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After wandering for a while after emerging from the cave and the epic showdown with the mutant bug thing. Keres was still recovering, but didn't really suffer anything, unlike the others who regained their mana after a lot of magical abuse back in the fight. After a while, they came to a grassy area, and Keres immideatly noticed that the grass was blue-ish rather than usual green, like grass probably used to be. After walking past the eerie grass, they came to a cliff, ending in strong torrents down below. Following the road a bit further, they encountered what lokoed like giant a giant old-looking stone gate, next to a old wooden bridge the group had to cross in order to arrive to the gate. Keres noticed that Artus noticed that there were prisoners hanging in chains on the walls of the mountain, and he couldn't help but dropping a malicious smile. as they came closer, they saw that the place was even bigger than anticipated from afar. It kind of looked like an old gothic castle, and there was no sign of any guards anywhere, much to the groups joy. Keres had gotten a bad hunch from somewhere after they got closer to the gate, and was struck with a feeling of nostalgia when they entered the main hall. Have I been here before? No... There was something else.. The magical sense in the air, it feels.. familiar! Maybe this place could provide Keres with the answers he needed in order for him to regain anything from his unknown past? The questions were buzzing inside his head, so he didn't at first notice the twelve prison wardens that approached them.

"Don't bother. You're surrounded." one of the guards said. they were blocking any possible escape route. Great.. Now I have gotten myself captured just for following this group of imbiciles! Keres thought, as he lowered his guard. The guards then started chanting spells that lit the torches covering the walls. They also appeared to have some magical sigil engraved on them. “This spell immobilizes you for a short time,” another guard said, and Keres readied his orb in order to do the Reaper's Call spell in order to absorb some of the magic that they used on him. "Send them below. And don't put them all together." the guard spoke as the others proceeded to grab the group. Yeah, for what purpose would it be if we were al ltogether? So far we're a remarkable group! Keres thought sarcasticly as they sent him through a corridor. He was put in a cage together with Fabian, who hadn't spoken a word through the entire happening. The cell was filthy, and smelled suspiciously like sh!t. It appeared he could move again, and he took a quick stroll around the cell. There wasn't much to do here other than planning some miraculous escape

After picking up her swords, Natalia ate some of the rabbit Artus was cooking with his magic. It was on the same level as other food she had eaten on her journey, but it did fill her stomach. After regaining some energy they continued towards their goal – the notorious Galvez Prison.

It was pretty straightforward – they just followed the path leading between the rocks. The terrain eventually became grassy, but it was no ordinary grass. For some unknown reason it wasn’t the usual green, but rather blue. When they arrived to the top of the path, the entrance to the prison became fully visible. It was a large arced gate made of stone. But before they could go through it, the group would have to cross a weak looking bridge made of wood and rope.

Even on a good day, Natalia wasn’t comfortable with heights, so when she saw the unreliable bridge they needed to cross, she was terrified. Not wanting to show any signs of weakness, she followed the others across without looking down or around. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the stone arch on the other side.

The gate seemed even bigger when they came closer. Surprisingly, it wasn’t guarded at all, so they followed Artus inside until they entered a big room with many exits. There it became apparent their arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed as a group of guards showed up and surrounded them. Natalia was already preparing for another battle, when she felt a shock that knocked her to the ground. She tried to get up but she couldn’t even move. "This spell immobilizes you for a short time." one of the guards quickly provided an explanation. "Send them below. And don't put them all together." He ordered the other guards.

The guards obeyed and dragged them onto caged pits separating them into three smaller groups. Natalia was horrified by the way they were treating her, but couldn’t do anything to stop them. She noticed she shared her pit with Artus and Asher, two of the people who didn’t show any hostility towards her. It wasn’t much of a consolation, but it was still better than spending the resto of her life with Keres.

The cage suddenly opened dropping them into the darkness. The landing was anything but graceful, Natalia hit the ground with her back. Her armour didn’t reduce the force of impact much, so she felt very similar to the way she had after being hit by the centipede. Artus was first on his feet and offered his hands to help Natalia and Asher get up. “Are you guys okay?” he asked.

Of course I’m not. I left the comfort of my home to liberate the lovely Rose Manor from those savages and now look what happened. I joined a bunch of strangers in a doomed attempt to rescue the princess and now I’m in considerable pain trapped somewhere in Galvez Prison. How did I end up here? Why didn’t I just hire some mercenaries and wait for them to do their job at home?

Natalia grabbed his hand and got up. She tried to act tough as usually “I’ll be fine. It takes a lot more to stop me.” She looked around to see where they ended up. It appeared they had fallen into a mine or something similar. There wasn’t much light, but the strong foul smell was making Natalia sick. “Where are we anyway? And more importantly, how are you going to get us out?” The last part was not really a question, she was basically ordering Artus to come up with a solution. He had led them here, so Natalia considered it was his responsibility to get them out.

“I’ll be fine. It takes a lot more to stop me.” Natalia said as she grabbed Artus’ hand. Artus didn’t say anything, as he grabbed Asher’s hand and pulled him up.

“You know Asher…you’re heavier than you look.” He said, observing Asher. “You must be one of those heavier-than you-look types, right?” He said chuckling. It was obviously a rhetorical question, but it did make Artus wonder.

“Where are we anyway? And more importantly, how are you going to get us out?” Natalia started to fire off the questions. Artus looked around and observed his surroundings. It was dark and kind of cold, and there was a huge corridor that lead north of the three. There was something echoing down dark corridor, which made a low rumbling noise. Artus tried to ignore it, although it was kind of hard, seeing as the last cave experience had them nearly killed.

What do you mean me? We’re all in this mess together… He thought. “Well Nat-I mean Natalia,” Artus had called her Nat, before realizing she had emphasized earlier that her name was not Nat. Artus however, found it easier to pronounce. “Actually you know what? I’m gonna call you Nat. We’re friends right? Besides, it makes it easier for the non-talkative types like Asher over here. Right Asher?” He said, patting Asher on the back. He then went back to the topic at hand. “Anyways, according my extensive observations, I have come to the conclusion that we are in some sort of cave.” Artus was obviously trying to be a smartass, pushing her buttons, but he also felt like he needed to lighten the mood a bit. After all, Artus was fairly certain they were going to be killed, but dropping them into this ‘dungeon cave thing’ gave him some hope. Artus was already sick of caves, even if this was only the second one. However, to him, this cave seemed slightly more…man-made. Torches were sparsely spread out throughout the cave room, and there were some illuminating the corridor ahead of them. “Hey Nat, I don’t suppose you could use your light-thingy and light up that dark path over there, could you, so we can see if its sort of safe to walk down there? I would do it myself, but seeing as I’m the powerhouse here, it would make sense I save my energy. And besides, I don’t think Asher has a Light spell like yours.” Artus wasn’t sure if that was the correct way to ask her, but he laughed a bit as he found his question kind of funny, and it was rather amusing to see her get all riled up. “Unless you guys got any better ideas.” He said looking at Asher and Natalia.

However he did have his reasons for not using his own magic. For one, to use his Electric Blade, he needed to use a rather large amount of mana. He only wanted to use it in dire situations, but seeing as they were at Galvez Prison, he was probably going to end up using it sometime or another and wanted to make sure he would have enough energy to pull it off. The second and main reason was because even if Asher did have a spell that would help, Artus wanted him to keep his mana reserve in case they got into a fight. Artus had a hunch that Asher’s Earth magic would be extremely deadly in this particular situation, evident when he was the one who was able to impale the Centipede, rip off its fang, and set it up for the final blow by Fabian. He figured if they did run into anything, Asher could do the same to it as he did to the Centipede.

Artus had some difficulties helping Asher get up.
“You know Asher…you’re heavier than you look.” he said. “You must be one of those heavier-than you-look types, right?” He chuckled at his own remark. Natalia rolled her eyes. Seriously? You actually said that? And you think it was funny? Okay...

Artus looked around as he tried to find answers to Natalia’s questions, but the dark corridor didn’t offer much help. “Well Nat-I mean Natalia,” he started, finally using her name for once. “Actually you know what? I’m gonna call you Nat. We’re friends right? Besides, it makes it easier for the non-talkative types like Asher over here. Right Asher?” Natalia was less than impressed with the way he continued. You were doing so well, why did you have to ruin it? However, the fact he considered her to be his friend caught Natalia’s attention. “Anyways, according my extensive observations, I have come to the conclusion that we are in some sort of cave.” Artus finished answering without providing any new information. He followed it up with a suggestion. “Hey Nat, I don’t suppose you could use your light-thingy and light up that dark path over there, could you, so we can see if its sort of safe to walk down there? I would do it myself, but seeing as I’m the powerhouse here, it would make sense I save my energy. And besides, I don’t think Asher has a Light spell like yours.” The statement made him as well as Natalia laugh a bit. That was the first genuinely funny thing Artus said – to refer to himself as the powerhouse. It was obviously a joke. “Unless you guys got any better ideas.” Artus finished looking at Natalia and Asher.

Natalia had quite a few things to say. “First things first, you said we were friends. Surely friends should respect each other’s wishes? And I wish to be called Natalia.” Her voice was victorious and there was a smug grin on her face, she had just used Artus’ own argument against him. “As for your idea, I’ll give it a try, but I doubt it will work. Blinding Flash isn’t meant for illuminating dark places, its light is too short lived and too bright. I’ll try to dim the light down and stretch its duration, but don’t expect miracles.” Natalia turned in the direction of the corridor and started focusing on her mana. “Keep your eyes open.” she ordered Artus and Asher. “I’m too close to the light source for my eyes to be of any use.” She closed her eyes as a precaution and released a small amount of mana and continued it for a few seconds. When she was done, she opened her eyes again and turned to the other two. “So, did it work?” she asked expectantly.

Asher’s healing time passed without incident. He could feel his physical energy being restored, but his mana pool was being drained from the deep lake that it had been to a shallow puddle that it was now. His spells leaned towards the conservative with mana, but he had used them continually and without eating for a while. Hauling himself up the side of the cavern had been especially draining, and sealing the wound in his stomach in the heat of the moment without direct contact with the ground was inefficient. He resolved not to do that again if he could manage. ’I am glad that I could heal in peace.’

As he pushed himself up from his position against the rock, he could hear Artus telling the group that it was time to get a move on. ’Already? If Princess Luna is still alive, there is a good chance that she will remain alive for quite some time as they might have need for a bargaining chip,’ Asher thought as he stretched. He would not comment on that; although, if it came to a decision for whether they remained at this place and recovered for a while or continue on, he might vote for staying if he was required to.

He felt neither more motivated nor hopeful than he had at the beginning, for it was difficult for him to feel anything but nothing now. Yes, he could feel vestiges pity and sadness, but he mostly felt empty because of his creator’s death. He had not seen his creator’s death, but he knew that he was surely dead. ’If I had remained behind, then could I have rescued him? He fated me to roam, but was there not a way?’

Artus was similarly having his eagerness deflated, but he seemed to have a higher starting point than Asher in the measure of contentment anyways; he seemed emotionally stable, unlike Keres, who was behaving in a un-Keres-like manner. The others, having finished their meals, followed his lead as he set off down the path. The self-designated leader was having his doubts about his position, and possibly keeping a tally of the injuries that his expedition had caused. Asher was sympathetic, but, upon reflection, noted that Artus’ navigational skills, or lack of, had led them directly into the nest of the centipede; nevertheless, the construct would continue to trust him unless he showed a lack of judgment far greater than already revealed.

Galvez Prison

The grass along the path was a dark blue, and it grew in sparse clumps; the path itself was easy enough to traverse, but Asher could feel the atmosphere itself becoming somehow creepier. At the end of the path, and the true beginning of Galvez Prison, began a bridge that spanned river that would quickly drown any foolish enough to attempt to swim its length. The bridge was bound with ropes, but Asher was not worried about that—he had read books on cultures that made sturdy bridges made out of rope made from grass, so this would probably not collapse upon the first step taken. The water of the river cascaded over rocks hidden in its depth and formed a circle around the fortress. Asher did not like that component of the prison in the least.

Artus took the lead in crossing, but he paused in the middle to catch a glimpse of anything that could interfere with the expedition. Asher noticed what he had—several people chained to the mountain, struggling in vain for freedom that they would never again attain, with nothing but the vestiges of clothing covering them. ’So this is the cruelty cleverness of Diaz. He knows that fear will drive people to remain downtrodden, oppressed…so he takes advantage of the unknown and totally crushes any hint of resistance. Those people…I must save, if I can.’ Asher felt pangs of sympathy; he became aware of just how fragile this group was, how easily it could be broken apart by manipulation.

A forbidding stone gate stood at the entrance to Galvez prison. Cracks made nary a difference to the immense behemoth; torches framed either side of the arches. It loomed over the group, and attempted to be intimidate the group, but Asher merely wondered how long it had been there and how it had withstood the ravages of time and assaults on Galvez. The absence of guards alarmed Asher—if they had no need for physical guards, then there was the possibility of magical ones which were much more likely to be unavoidable. The open-air corridors beyond the gate were enticing to Asher as representatives of discoveries that were yet to happen. Pits of unknown purpose with grates to prevent their contents from escaping were scattered around the room.

Artus looked around nervously, afraid of the unknown. Unfortunately for the group, the unknown became the known rather quickly and abruptly. “Don’t bother. You’re surrounded,” came the bored reply to Artus’ drawn sword. The self-nominated leader of the party had drawn his weapon before the prison wardens had completely surrounded them, but it was already too late. Asher could tell that though the wardens wore no armor, they could cast magic, which probably nullified the need for such superfluous gear for a true mage. The torches burned ever brighter as words written in a language similar to the one on his core lit in their full glory to activate the paralysis spell. Asher fell, and as he did, he shifted his body into a position that maximized its bulkiness and awkwardness to carry. The prison wardens would have no easy time taking him. “This spell immobilizes you for a short time,” the prison warden leader said as he motioned his fellows to grab Artus and his party. “Send them below. And don't put them all together.” The prison wardens obeyed, dropping them into the cages in…smaller groups than the whole. They had obeyed the leader’s words to the very letters, but Asher was grateful for even that.

The bottom of the cage opened into the maw of the pit, releasing Natalia, Artus, and Asher into free-fall. Asher did his best to remain calm, but that proved impossible as the drop lasted for quite a while. The thuds of the others alerted him to the fact that there was a bottom. The landing was far softer than he would have expected, but he suspected that the prison wardens had cast a spell on them that elongated the period of time that they fell so that their bodies would survive the fall. A prolonged death was ever preferable to a short one. The others remained paralyzed for a while, and Asher’s wounds, which had previously given him no grief during the majority of the paralysis spell, began to pain him again. The dirt beneath the side of his face stunk, if it was indeed dirt, which he doubted.

Artus was the first to recover, and extended his hands to Asher and Natalia in an offer to assist them. “Are you guys okay?” Asher considered this for a bit. If there were unconsidered side-effects from the immobilization spell and Asher’s core was malfunctioning a bit, then it was possible that his extremities might detach given sufficient force. Upon further consideration, he realized that anyone’s extremities detached with enough force applied.

He began to think of the answer to the voiced question. Was he okay? ’My body would benefit from rest and food, my mana pool has been through a drought, and my emotional state is probably not healthy, but otherwise, I am “okay”.’ It was not often that Asher was snarky, even in thought, but his blood sugar was low.

““I’ll be fine. It takes a lot more to stop me,” Natalia commented as she was helped to her feet.

Asher accepted the hand that was offered to him and found himself tugged up. “You know Asher…you’re heavier than you look,” Artus observed as he pulled the construct to his feet, “you must be one of those heavier-than-you-look types, right?” Asher was not exactly sure of what that meant, but he could construct an answer—he cocked his head to the side, imitating a puppy.

The rumbling noise from a north-bound path disturbed Asher, but his attention was drawn to more pressing matters—the bickering of Artus and Natalia. “Where are we anyway? And more importantly, how are you going to get us out?” Natalia asked, irritated. If she had a knob that determined her mood, then its default setting must have been “agitated”.

“Well Nat-I mean Natalia, “ Artus began to explained and then made a fatal mistake for the group’s cohesiveness: he continued on to say, “Actually you know what? I’m gonna call you Nat. We’re friends right? Besides, it makes it easier for the non-talkative types like Asher over here. Right Asher?” Asher had no idea as to how calling Natalia “Nat” made things easier for himself, but he had no comment as he suspected that it would create a worse situation. “Anyways, according my extensive observations, I have come to the conclusion that we are in some sort of cave.” Asher grew worried—being intentionally difficult would have no good consequences. “Hey Nat, I don’t suppose you could use your light-thingy and light up that dark path over there, could you, so we can see if it’s sort of safe to walk down there? I would do it myself, but seeing as I’m the powerhouse here, it would make sense I save my energy. And besides, I don’t think Asher has a Light spell like yours.” Asher wondered if Artus was truly the “powerhouse” of the group as he claimed himself to be—perhaps at the level that Asher’s mana was at, yes, but with their mana fully restored it would be uncertain. The construct had observed the Light-based spell before and determined that it would be an extreme drain on mana if Natalia were to be required to hold the same intensity as before. “Unless you guys got any better ideas.” Asher’s mind was not functioning at its normal speed; otherwise he would have determined a feasible solution, so he said nothing.

Natalia complained back and released the spell, but it illuminated the surrounding area for only a moment. Asher looked down at the floor as if to apologize for something not his fault and backed off the dirt mound. He knew that he still had his bag and his lump of metal, but he preferred to conserve his mana until a vital moment. ’This would qualify as a moment that requires intervention, would it not?’ The lump of metal was fished out from his bag and presented to the other two with the words of “Infighting, especially in an enemy-saturated area, is unwise;”. Realizing that the strip of metal would not hold the rest of his words, he placed his hand on the right end of it and pulled right, with assistance from his magic, until it elongated. He used more magic to write the remained of his sentence on it “considering our actions before undertaking them will not cause harm.” It was a call for the arguments to cease.

((OOC: Sorry about the abruptness of the end; I had to go to sleep early.))

Originally Posted by bobandbill

Originally Posted by zomegax7249

So now it's not enough that we beat the NPCs, now we have to steal their clothes as well? Isn't this basically mugging them?

Suddenly the aim of the Pokémon games is apparent. It isn't to catch them all, or to be the best trainer, or to learn about the values of friendship with strange monsters that can breathe fire and whatnot.

They reached the prison not too long after finishing their meal. Coelnar was quite surprised, but the cave must have been longer than he'd thought. Of course, instead of sneaking around, or searching for another way in, the others apparently thought it was a great idea to try and walk straight up to the gate. There were no guards there, and Coelnar suspected a magical trap of some kind. All things considered, Coelnar was about to say exactly what he thought of that strategy, but didn't get the chance, as a group of wardens materialized around them, weapons drawn. There were too many of them, and Coelnar didn't even bother going for his axe, instead bracing himself for whatever attack was to come. He could see three wardens in the direction he was facing, and assumed there would be more. His suspicions were quickly confirmed.

"Don't bother, you're surrounded." said one of them, probably the leader. A vicious shock shot through him, and he only just managed to stay on his feet. Coelar tried to move, maybe launch a magical attack, but found that he couldn't move anything except his eyes. He was facing the leader, and looked straight at him. He seemed familiar. Him! Coelnar realized, with a burst of pure fury. It was the one that had led the attack on his village. I'll kill you! Coelnar thought, letting the rage take him over, and straining against the spell. He managed to fight the pain for almost a minute, but it eventually brought him to his knees, unable to even try and move, and a look of pure, terrifying anger in his eyes.

The lead warden's eyes met his for a moment, but he apparently didn't recognise Coelnar, or at least chose not to show it. "Send them down below," he said, sounding satisfied. "And don't put them all together." They grabbed Artus, Natalia, and Asher first, throwing them into a cage of some sort, which had a sheer drop underneath it. I think I know where this is going.. Coelnar thought, worriedly. His suspicions were confirmed, as the floor of the cage swung open under the first three, sending them falling down.. Somewhere. Coelnar found himself grabbed next, and roughly dragged towards the cage. He was thrown in, next to Ethan and Undine. There was nothing to do except wait for the inevitable. The floor fell open beneath them, and there was a dizzying moment of freefall. Coelnar landed with a splash, in a pool of dirty water.

He got up, still furious at the sight of the warden. "I swear, I'll kill the b*stard." he muttered, swearing for once. "I'll kill him." he said again, kicking the wall. "But I can't do it without getting out of here." he said, finally calming down. "Sorry. I had to get that out" he said apologetically. He looked around. There was a dead body in the corner, which was unnerving.

Ethan just seemed to be annoyed about ending up down here. "Sh*t!" he yelled furiously, kicking at the water. "Any ideas?" he said to Coelnar and Undine. Coelnar shrugged. "Well, we know the vague direction of the prison right? This seems like a maze of some sort. If we can find a way to mark where we've been, we'll be able to find a way out, and retrace our steps if we find a dead end. In the distance, Coelnar heard a deep screeching roar. "Uh.. Did you guys hear that?" he muttered. "I don't think we're alone in here.."

((OOC: Sorry, long post. But I thought we should get ready to pick things up))

“First things first, you said we were friends. Surely friends should respect each other’s wishes? And I wish to be called Natalia.” She gave a smug smirk at Artus, who felt slightly defeated, due to the fact she used Artus’ own words against him. He didn’t really see what was the big deal, seeing as it was just a nickname. It wasn’t even anything rude or obnoxious in the slightest. It was literally just a shorter version of her name. “As for your idea, I’ll give it a try, but I doubt it will work. Blinding Flash isn’t meant for illuminating dark places, its light is too short lived and too bright. I’ll try to dim the light down and stretch its duration, but don’t expect miracles.” She ten turned around and faced the dark corridor. Artus squinted his eyes a bit, until Natalia ordered Asher and him to keep them open. “Keep your eyes open. “I’m too close to the light source for my eyes to be of any use.” Artus nodded in agreement, as he kept his eyes opened, but also ready to close in case something went wrong. She then let out a ray of bright light towards the corridor. It wasn’t as bright as it usually is in battle, but it was still rather blinding, especially at close range. As Artus looked at the corridor, it was obvious it was just a tunnel. He still couldn’t see much, but at least now they knew it didn’t look like anything would be jumping out at them. “So, did it work?” She asked. Artus put his hand on his chin to think for a moment, while Asher took out his metal plate from his bag to say something.

“Infighting, especially in an enemy-saturated area, is unwise.” He wrote on the plate. Artus wasn’t sure what he was trying to say, but he figured Asher was trying to avoid himself and Natalia from getting into an argument. ““Considering our actions before undertaking them will not cause harm.” He then wrote. Artus sighed, and looked at Asher. It seemed that Asher was the peace-keeping type, evident in how he just tried to cease the arguing.

“I guess you’re right, Asher. Now’s not the time to be arguing.” Artus then proceeded to look at the corridor. “Well, it doesn’t seem to look like anything is gonna jump out at us. From what I saw, it looks like a straightforward tunnel.” Artus was just making an assumption of course. There could have been hidden tunnels on the side that he did not know about, but he was basing his hunch off of only what the light had exposed. “But I guess we won’t get anything done by just standing here.” Artus said, as he looked at both Asher and Natalia. As he looked at back at the corridor, he started to hear footsteps echoing through the tunnel. Artus took a step back and put his hands on his sword. “Guys…get ready.” Artus said, as he drew his sword and prepared for a confrontation. It seemed that his assumption about not getting ambushed was wrong, as the footsteps got closer. Suddenly, out of the darkness, a man, nearly completely naked, jumped out at the group. Artus took a step back in shock, as he was expecting a soldier or something. Artus looked at the man. He had short dark brown hair, and had a thin layer of cloth covering his private parts. He had a metal cuff attached to one of his wrists, evident that he was chained at one point. There were red scars over his body, and some blood caked around the nose. The man walked closer to Asher and stared at him in the eyes, not saying a word. He observed creepily, and his eyes were deadlocked with Asher’s. After a few seconds he moved on to Natalia, this time sniffing her. Lastly he went up to Artus and his eyes shot open.

“You!” He yelled as he pointed. “Do you remember me?! We were together that night in the carriage!” He continued to yell, this time creepily touching Artus’ chest.

“Uhhh…what?” Artus pushed the man’s arm away. This guy was obviously delusional or something by the way he was acting. His movements were all erratic as well. “What carriage?” Artus said. He started to back away from the man, getting uncomfortable from him feeling his chest.

“Remember? We were on the carriage to Galvez! You saved us!” He said, as he twirled around with hands spread out. Artus looked at him in shock, and realized that this man was one of the prisoners and survivors from his town.

“Oh crap! You’re one of the survivors from Nalan?! How did you end up back here? I thought you guys ran away?” Artus was starting to get slightly more excited than he should have been, but the sight of seeing someone from his town made him happy. Even if it was a deranged lunatic.

“I think the better question is…how did you end up here?” He pointed at Artus and then Natalia and Asher. “It doesn’t matter, as long as we’re together.” He put his hands around Asher and Natalia and gestured Artus to come over. “C’mon, we can cuddle together!” Artus looked at him confusingly. As he kept talking it was clear this person was insane. Almost as if he was high off of something. “The name’s Biff by the way.” He took his hands off of the two and walked up to Artus.

“Look, Biff”. Artus said his name with emphasis, to get his attention. “I don’t suppose you know the way out, do you?” The man nodded. “You do?!” Artus’ eyes lit up.

“Of course. Everybody down here knows the way out. It’s getting out that’s the problem. You see…” Biff paused for a moment to sit down and scratch his feet. “They keep a monster in this cave. A ‘pet’ if you will. Occasionally, the wardens will come down to feed the beast, when prisoners like us are getting low. And that’s the exit.” Biff stood up once again. “But….” He took another unnecessary pause. “They recently changed all the entrances and exits to this underground hell, so if you want to leave, you’re gonna have to look for the exits. And once you found it, you just got to open it with da magic.” Artus shrugged and gestured Biff to tell more. He seemingly knew the ropes around here, but Artus was unsure as to how reliable he was. “Only….the wardens have the thingy to open the doors. It’s sort of like a secret password. You gotta draw it out and just activate it. The doors are enchanted or sumptin’ like that, and by writing it out, it dispells the enchantment for a bit. At least that's the only way out that I know of. There could be more. Besides, only people capable of using magic can open it, like you guys.” He looked at Asher and Natalia and squinted his eyes, assuming they knew magic as well. “Not to mention, nobody knows the password, and they change it every so often.” He then walked up to Artus. “But there’s no hope. We’re pretty much dead.” He started to laugh, which then escalated into a maniacal cackle.

Artus stood quietly thinking. If they just stood here, they would eventually die. If they went looking for the one of the exits, they might have a chance of escaping, but also a chance of dying. “You know…I’ve seen the monster here….twice.” He crept behind Asher, feeling his hair with his dirty hands. “And I survived both times. It has the stench of a thousand rotting corpses, and can kill with the swipe of a claw.” He then looked at Natalia. “It will snap you like a twig easily, girly.” And then looked at Artus. “And it will eat every last bit of flesh on your body, and use your bones as toothpicks. Trust me when I say, we’re dead.” Biff sat down again, this time in kneeling position. “Say whatever prayers you want now, and beg for forgiveness. And hope that all your sins will be washed away.” He then stood up again. Artus was starting to get freaked out, and in all honesty was getting scared by the way Biff was speaking. “Welcome to Hell folks. After we die, we’ll get sent back here again, and this time, there will be no escape.”

“Biff, just shut up. Please.” Artus said, in full shock. The idea of being in Galvez Prison was finally starting to kick in. He realized Biff wasn’t high off of anything. He had accepted his fate and was acting out of pure insanity. Artus realized the situation he was in, and how he had dragged along others to his fate was well. He took a seat down on the ground and leaned against the wall. He let out a sigh, and then looked at the ground. Crap what do we do? Artus had never been in a panic mode before, except for that one time when his town was invaded by Diaz’s forces. However, he knew that he was willing to do anything that it takes to survive. If he could only get his hands on the Commander, then this would be all over. He looked at Asher and Natalia. “I don’t know….should we go and look for the exit?” Artus was tired of leading the group into various ambushes and traps, and honestly didn’t know if they were still willing to put their trust in him.

After looking around the cage they were in, Keres noticed, after getting used to the dark, a decaying corpse in one of the corners, next to scratch marks in the stone wall near a ventilation shaft. Poor guy must have tried getting out of here. Hmpfh.. Useless. Keres thought. leaving the body behind, he saw that Fabian still was unconcious on the floor near the bars covering the exit. Well, he won't be of much help.. . He surveyed the room, and came to the conclusion that there was no ways of escaping. If there were, poor Mr. McRotten would have found it already. His Fire spell wasn't strong enough to melt through the bars, and he couldn't kill Fabian and steal his mana, as he would need him for that later. Keres still had a lot of mana left, even though the Fire spell was so weak. What if... Keres muttered for himself as a plan started to take shape in his mind.

The guards had also taken Keres' orb from him, but Keres could easily call it back from wherever they had put it. It's just a ball of floating energy anyway, so it shouldn't be problematic. Keres focused his mind. Come! he said, and shortly after, a glowing ball of energy entered through the bars. the orb lit the cell with light, and it was easier to navigate. Keres turned over to the decaying corpse, and the scratch marks on the walls were covered in old blood. Nasty.. Keres thought. Holding the orb in front of him, Keres started chanting, and after a little while, the corpse slowly started move its fingers, then its arms, and then it stood up. Cracking sounds could be heard when it rose, and rats appeared to have been feasted on his body, as his entire upper body side was eaten away, leaving his ribs pointing out. His eyes glowed in an eerie dim yellow light as he walked over to Keres and stopped a few feet away from him, awaiting its orders.

"You... Now, what can you do for us today?" Keres said thoughtfully, walking in circles around the dead man. "Ruh...?" he replied. It appeared he was no longer able to speak. "Smash that wall!" Keres said while dragging Fabian out of the way. He knew that his revenants had superhuman strength, and that could really come in handy now. "Roaargh....!" the corpse said as it walked over to the wall, rose its arm, which made a nasty sound, and smashed into the stone wall. A huge cracking sound could be heard, as the revenants arm broke, now pointing in a weird direction. It did work however, and the wall now had a big crack in it. That wouldn't be enough to get them through, as it only had one arm left to smash with, and it appeared that despite its huge strength, the man was literally falling apart, and could not take another blow. "Let's try something else then..." Keres said, falling in deep thought again, while the revenant looked at its disfigured arm with a confused look on its skeletal face.

Another while later, Keres came up with another idea. "Why don't you..." he started while grabbing the revenants shoulders, guiding it in his direction, as the revenant had started walking around in confusion. "hold unto this and pull!" Keres said, putting the remaining arm on the bar on the door. The revenant obeyed, and with a slight cracking sound from its shoulder, it managed to rip out one of the bars. It wasn't enough for Keres and Fabian to get through though, and Keres told the revenant to do it again twice. After the last time, the arm broke, making the revenant useless. But it worked. The revenant had ducessfully removed three iron bars, making it easy for Keres and Fabian to escape the cell. "Thanks. Now go!" Keres said to the revenant. He couldn't be of any use anymore, as both its arms were malfunctioning. The revenant walked off into the darkness. With the cell now open, Keres decided to wait for Fabian to wake up before making any other decicions.

(OOC: would be fun if any of you guys encountered the revenant just walking around. lol)

Fabian noticed that the others were impressed with his skill. They didn’t need to say anything, because the looks on their faces betrayed their silence. Fabian walked past the charred corpse that twitched every so often. He didn’t care to check on the others, as he assumed they weren’t dead, just badly bruised. He walked out of the cave into the bright sunlight. He didn’t realize how long he was in the cave until he had to shield his eyes from the temporarily intense sunlight. Fabian perched himself on a large boulder in the grass on the side of the path as he awaited the others who were still in the cave.

Soon, the group finally joined Fabian outside. He watched as Artus made an attempt to catch some fish to quell his hunger. He managed to catch a meager fish that he cooked with a bolt of lightning. The aroma was slightly appealing, but not enough to make Fabian want to eat it. Colenar eventually came back with a rather large rabbit. Once it was cooked, it smelled slightly more appetizing than Artus’s fish. Fabian decided to munch on the dried fruit and bread that he brought with him from town. He was surprised that the group didn’t bring food with them. Fabian knew better than to travel without nonperishable food items. His travels around the country have left him in many situations where there weren’t any nearby inns, so he would have to pack food to bring with him.

The group made it to the prison with little interference from any opposition. The prison was as sinister as one would think it to be. There were several prisoners chained up and stripped of a majority of their clothes. It was a saddening sight. The group was making progress into the prison, but they were soon met by a large group of guards that surrounded them rather quickly. They must have noticed them immediately, but didn’t act until later. The wardens warned the group not to move before casting a spell of that paralyzed them. Fabian felt a jolt shoot through his body before his limbs went rigid. He ended up losing consciousness once he was dropped into his cell with Keres.

Fabian’s eyes began to slowly blink, as he tried to focus. He felt someone dragging him by his shoulders. He felt groggy. Once he was placed against a wall, he could hear a inhuman groan and cracking sounds. He eyes adjusted to the faint glow of the orb that Keres owned. He could hear him giving commands to the zombie that was now present. Fabian wasn’t as startled by this as a typical person would be. So, Keres is a necromancer? Suspicious… Fabian met only one person that used Death magic, and that person didn’t help the reputation of those who wielded the magic of Death and Darkness, so Fabian grew slightly weary of Keres.

Fabian noticed that Keres’s rotting servant managed to break a few bars off of the cell. By now, Fabian had fully regained his consciousness, and he stood to his feet. He simply aimed his hand at the bar, and he summoned a swirling ball of flame.

“Stand back.” He commanded Keres and whatever it was that Keres was controlling. He hoped they heeded his warning as he blasted the metal bars with the volatile ball of searing flames. It held enough force and heat to blast the bars away.

Coelnar got to his feet. "I swear, I'll kill the b*stard." he muttered, this was probably the first time Ethan had heard Coelnar swear "I'll kill him." he said repeated, then kicking the wall out of anger "But I can't do it without getting out of here." He continued, he began to lower his voice. "Sorry. I had to get that out"
“Heh, no problem” Ethan said “I feel exactly the same way. We can get our revenge once we get out of here, though. The smell of the body and filthy water was beginning to get to Ethan.
“Lets go have a look around,” He said.

The group exited the watery cell. Ethan looked down the long corridor, he couldn’t see the end of it. Down the corridor there were multiple other passages to go down. If they were going to get out of the maze, it would certainly be hard. The group continued down the long corridor, Ethan periodically looked down the passages to check for interesting sites.

After what felt like no more than a minute of walking, Ethan heard heard a voice echoing from down one of the passages. It sounded like slightly deranged singing. A sea shanty. It felt familiar.

“Boney was a warrior,
Away ay-yah!
A warrior and a tarrier,
John Fran swor!”

The source of the singing emerged from around the corner, it was an old man. He appeared skinny and weak.

“Boney went to El-“ he paused as he noticed the group. “Well I never!” He shouted, his voice was high pitched and excited. He had clearly lost his wits during his time in the maze. Upon closer inspection Ethan recognised the man. It was a man who had previously been a member of the Myrydian. Jasper Flitwick. During the mutinies the slimy worm snuck off. Ethan had never liked him.
“Captain Ethan Daggett!” He shouted, he attempted to embrace Ethan but Ethan backed away “Captain Ethan Daggett of the Myrydian! The pirate KING they called him they did!” He shouted joyously “I can’t believe you came back to rescue me! Oh Ethan!”

This was probably one of the worst times for Ethan’s identity to be revealed. There was no hiding it now. Ethan was a pirate. Ethan turned to Coelnar and Undine to attempt to explain himself.
“Heh,” His laugh was clearly faked. “Crazy old man…” Ethan’s lies wouldn’t be very convincing considering the man had remember Ethan’s name.

While Artus was trying to put what he had seen into words, Asher took out his communication plate and put it on display. “Infighting, especially in an enemy-saturated area, is unwise. Considering our actions before undertaking them will not cause harm.” it said. Natalia didn’t consider the last exchange as arguing and thought Asher was just being paranoid. She thought they were mature enough not to start fights with each other in this situation.

“I guess you’re right, Asher. Now’s not the time to be arguing.” Artus reassured Asher, before telling about what he saw down the corridor. “Well, it doesn’t seem to look like anything is gonna jump out at us. From what I saw, it looks like a straightforward tunnel. But I guess we won’t get anything done by just standing here.” When his voice stopped echoing through the tunnel, a different sound could be heard coming from the corridor. It was the sound of footsteps and it was getting louder and louder as the one making them was coming closer. Whatever it is, the light must’ve caught its attention.

“Guys…get ready.” Artus said, drawing his sword. Natalia did the same and prepared to attack when a weird man came running from the darkness. He was naked except for a piece of cloth covering his crotch and seemed to be mad. He stared at Asher for a while, before moving on and started sniffing Natalia. She carefully observed what he was up to without sheathing her swords and considered killing him, but she was certain that her companions wouldn’t approve of that. With the madman so close to her she could see his skin was covered in scars, most of them looked infected and giving off an awful smell. So this is what happens to you, if you stay here too long. Forget about princess, we have to get out as soon as possible. When the man finally moved on to stare at Artus, Natalia relaxed a bit and sheathed her swords.

“You!” He yelled pointing at Artus. “Do you remember me?! We were together that night in the carriage!” He continued to yell while holding his hand on Artus’ chest.

“Uhhh…what?” Artus knocked the weirdo’s arm off of his chest and backed away. “What carriage?” Artus was as uncomfortable as Natalia was a few seconds before.

“Remember? We were on the carriage to Galvez! You saved us!” The man twirled around enthusiastically.

“Oh crap! You’re one of the survivors from Nalan?! How did you end up back here? I thought you guys ran away?” Artus recognised the lunatic and was getting quite excited.

Natalia hoped that the stranger would focus on Artus and leave her alone. She started slowly moving away from him, but didn’t get far as he put his arms around her and Asher as he answered Artus’ questions. “I think the better question is…how did you end up here? It doesn’t matter, as long as we’re together.” He gestured Artus to come over. “C’mon, we can cuddle together!” No, we definitely can’t! Even now, the only way of preventing myself from of pulling out my swords and making a few slashes is to remain completely still. You’re lucky Artus recognised you. “The name’s Biff by the way.” Much to Natalia’s relief, he finally let go of her and Asher and again approached Artus.

“Look, Biff.” Artus emphasised his name. “I don’t suppose you know the way out, do you?” The man nodded. “You do?!” Artus was visibly excited and even Natalia found a reason to keep Biff alive. If he stayed away from her, that is.

“Of course. Everybody down here knows the way out. It’s getting out that’s the problem. You see…” Biff paused for a moment, sat down and scratched his feet. “They keep a monster in this cave. A ‘pet’ if you will. Occasionally, the wardens will come down to feed the beast, when prisoners like us are getting low. And that’s the exit.” Biff stood up once again. “But….” He took another pause. He seemed determined to prolong the attention he was getting by any means he could. “They recently changed all the entrances and exits to this underground hell, so if you want to leave, you’re gonna have to look for the exits. And once you found it, you just got to open it with da magic.” Artus gestures encouraged him to continue. “Only….the wardens have the thingy to open the doors. It’s sort of like a secret password. You gotta draw it out and just activate it. The doors are enchanted or sumptin’ like that, and by writing it out, it dispells the enchantment for a bit. At least that's the only way out that I know of. There could be more. Besides, only people capable of using magic can open it, like you guys.” He looked at Asher and Natalia as if trying to find their confirmation about their magical powers. “Not to mention, nobody knows the password, and they change it every so often.” He then walked up to Artus. “But there’s no hope. We’re pretty much dead.” A crazy laughter indicated he had truly given up hope and gone mad. Natalia hoped Biff had finished and sighed when it became apparent he hadn’t. This time he was creeping around Asher, raving about something, but at this point Natalia lost interest. As long as he kept himself an arm’s length away from her, she didn’t care what he was up to. All she cared about was getting out of Galvez.

“Biff, just shut up. Please.” Artus had enough of him as well. He looked at Asher and Natalia. “I don’t know….should we go and look for the exit?” He seemed defeated and displayed no signs of hope.

Natalia looked Artus, her eyes expressing a combination of anger and pity. “I’m not sure. Do you want to stay here until the end of your days or do you want to see the light of day again?” Natalia said, angry with his defeatism. “I know what I’d rather do, but if you prefer the first option, I’d recommend you use your sword to take your own life before you turn to the kind of lunatic your friend here is.” she nodded towards Biff, who was picking his nose. “But before you do that, do you think you could help me and Asher find the way out? I promise I’ll let you stay here, if you’ll still feel have doubts when we find the exit.” Natalia then turned to Asher. “What do you think? Do you want to get out of here or do have you also given up already?” She mad a few steps down the corridor. “If anybody wants to come with me, you’re more than welcome. We’ll discuss the details on the way, I don’t want to lose time just standing there. It’s unlikely our condition will improve down here, so we need to get going.” Natalia slowed down to give the others a chance to catch up with her.

“I’m not sure. Do you want to stay here until the end of your days or do you want to see the light of day again?” Natalia looked at Artus, with cold eyes filled with pity and anger. Artus frowned with disappointment. Obviously he wasn’t a good leader if they were honestly debating on whether to find the exits or not. “I know what I’d rather do, but if you prefer the first option, I’d recommend you use your sword to take your own life before you turn to the kind of lunatic your friend here is.” Artus continued to frown. Dying was the last thing on his list, and he would rather not do it by a suicide attempt. However, Artus did know that Biff could be telling the truth. If their chances of survival were as minimal as he made them to be, then perhaps they would die anyways regardless. Natalia suddenly interrupted his train of thought. “But before you do that, do you think you could help me and Asher find the way out? I promise I’ll let you stay here, if you’ll still feel you’ll have doubts when we find the exit.” She then turned to Asher. “What do you think? Do you want to get out of here or do have you also given up already?” Asher was most likely to side with Natalia in this one. It was obvious the only ones in the other boat were Artus and Biff. “If anybody wants to come with me, you’re more than welcome. We’ll discuss the details on the way, I don’t want to lose time just standing there. It’s unlikely our condition will improve down here, so we need to get going.” She then proceeded to walk into the darkness of the corridor.

Artus sat in thought for a few more moments. He looked at Biff who was in his own world, as if he didn’t care if anything were to happen to him. Artus looked down the corridor Natalia was walking in. She looked determined to get out of the prison. He wanted to get out of the prison just as much as she did, however, Natalia made it sound like he would rather die, and he didn’t like it. “Alright let’s go. Obviously our fearless captain here knows the way out.” Artus said sarcastically, while nodding towards Natalia. He was getting tired of being seen as the 'wimp' of the group. First Keres had made fun of him back at the inn, and now Natalia was essentially mocking him. He got up, and tried his best to stop thinking so cautiously, while he kept an emotionless face. He thought for the time being, they should at least put in some effort in getting out in hopes of survival. He walked over to Biff and grabbed him by the arms, and violently shook him to his feet. Biff grunted a bit, and looked at Artus. “Don’t just stand there, you know the way around here don’t you?” He was starting to speak more aggressive. Artus wasn’t naturally an aggressive person, but all the arguing between the group was starting to take its toll. Besides, he wanted to show that he could, in fact, be tough if he wanted to. Biff quickly nodded and grabbed one of the mounted torches on the wall. He gripped it with both hands, and vigorously tried to pull it from its mount with all of its strength. Artus rolled his eyes as it was clear Biff had the strength of a five-year old girl. After a few more pulls, the torch was in Biff’s hand. “C’mon Asher, let’s go.” He said, as the three walked up to Natalia and proceeded to walk down the corridor. Artus felt a chill go down his spine as they took the fist few steps down the darkness. “….Well, you go first…” He quietly said as he gave Biff a good shove to front of the group.

“I don’t really like the way you’re pushing me.” He said. Artus rolled his eyes. Even though he was from his hometown, it wouldn’t have made a difference if he were to survive or not. This man was too deranged for help. At least that’s how Artus saw it. All he really cared about was if he were to survive or not. Besides, the real reason Artus wanted to have Biff in front of the group was so if they did happen to run into the beast head-on, it would mean an easy get away for the group, and a free meal for the beast. However, he remembered Asher’s comments from before, and realized he should probably keep the conflict toned down. As Biff was pushed into the front of the group, his torch illuminated some of the surrounding darkness. Eerie shadows were cast from their bodies, which made everything seem spookier than it really should have been. As they walked for a bit, they came across three corridors. Biff suddenly stopped in his tracks as he looked around. Artus nudged him to start walking again.

“Well, I came down this path straight ahead when I saw a strange light shoot down this way. Which means….” Biff squinted his eyes, as if he were trying incredibly hard to think. “We should go this way!” He said, pointing to the right passage.

“You sure Biff? This way looks…odd.” Artus asked, reassuring his decision. He didn’t seem like the most reliable guide, but it was better than having Natalia guide them nowhere. He looked down this particular corridor. It didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, but Artus just wanted to be cautious.

“Are you gonna let me make decisions, or are you gonna be a little b*tch?” Biff suddenly snapped back at Artus. What the Hell? He just suddenly gets the ground to stand up for himself? Artus gave him a slightly irritated look. “Like I said my man, I don’t like it when you push me around.” He then proceeded to calling Artus the b-word again under his breath. Artus ignored his comments. Obviously he had no more dignity or respect left if people as lowly as Biff were making fun of him. As they walked on, Artus walked quietly in embarrassment. He kept his eyes on Biff, as they walked, trying to figure him out. Soon after, following Biff into another path, they came across a room, much like the one they had been in at the start. Artus was trying hard to keep quiet but it seemed like Biff had no clue what he was doing.

“Biff, where the Hell did you take us?” He said, as he looked around. There were three skeletons lying in the room, and there were several torches mounted up against the walls. There was also a slight draft coming from somewhere.

“I don’t really know…Honestly, this place gets so confusing, it gets hard to memorize where you have been and stuff.” Biff walked around waving his torch. Artus rolled his eyes again. Why am I not surprised? He looked at Biff, who was busy looking at a bunch of drawings, etched into the rocky wall of the room. Artus turned around, and again, heard a deep rumbling sound echoing through the cave. Artus wasn’t sure what it was, but ignored it, and was being hopeful in that it was simply another prisoner just acting all crazy like Biff. “Hey guys! Come on o’er here!” He waved his torch around, oblivious to the sparks which were flying out of the flame. As Artus walked up, he saw that Biff was looking at a drawing of a bird.

“Yeah…so? This is what you’re all excited about? It’s just a drawing, idiot.” He said to Biff, who was nodding in agreement.

“It could mean something, ya know?” Biff said enthusiastically.

“I don’t know….” Artus turned to Asher and Natalia. “Can you guys make anything out of it?”

After the revenant had dismissed, and went off into the darkness leaving nothing but grunts and groans, Keres noticed that Fabian had woken up at some point during his miraculous escape, and had somehow gotten up on his feet. He didn't say anything, just looked at Keres with a suspicious look. "What..?" Keres said before moving towards the entrance. He decided to follow the trail of the revenant, as he had no idea where to go himself. Not that a braindead revenant would know the answer but.. What's in it to lose anyway.

Walking around the dungeons of the prison, Keres cuoldn't stop feeling nostalgic about something. There was something at the place that awoke memories in him. Memories of a proud older man with a crystal orb, and a smiling woman, holding a child in her arms, who looked suspiciously like Keres. What was this? was this place somehow related to his origin? the familiar feeling came with the strong magical essence of the place, and the air was filled with emotions. Keres didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. All he could do was to ignore it and move on.

Moving on, Keres noticed that Fabian was following him. Well, better that than if he stayed back at the cell. Keres thought for himself. The corridors they were walking in looked suspiciously alot like a labyrinth. What kind of prison is this?. the walls had blood on them, and scratchmarks around small entrances which were probably only used by rats in order to run around eating people, and there ere prisoners hanging in chains on many of the walls. They all looked like they had just given up hope, and waited to die. Keres noticed a young woman chained to the walls a bit further ahead. She didn't look nearly as bad as the rest of the prisoners, and Keres figured she just recently had gotten here. He went over to her, hoping she knew some directions. "You!" Keres said as he approached her. She flinched by the sound of his voice. "H..H..Help me! please, you gotta help me out of her!" she cried at him. Keres stood there as the woman cried and pleaded for help. She was starting to annoy him, and he got impatient. He took his claws and slashed the womans throat, killing her instantly. "God.. Won't you ever shut. Up? he said, not hiding his frustration.

Sure enough, Artus couldn’t ignore Natalia’s words. “Alright let’s go. Obviously our fearless captain here knows the way out.” Natalia heard him say sarcastically. She achieved exactly what she wanted – by riling him up, she managed to get him to show some will to live. He might have been irritated, but Natalia didn’t worry about that. In fact, she believed by questioning his attitude she could get him to be more motivated.

“Don’t just stand there, you know the way around here don’t you?” Artus commanded Biff. The aggression in his voice thrilled Natalia; it seemed he was ready to take on anything. “C’mon Asher, let’s go.” The three of them caught up with her, Biff lighting up the corridor with a torch. “….Well, you go first…” Artus pushed Biff in front of the others to lead the way. A logical move as he was the only one with any knowledge of the corridors, after all.

Biff wasn’t too happy about that. “I don’t really like the way you’re pushing me.” he complained, but nobody really cared. They silently followed Biff along the dark corridor. The experience was made even creepier by the flickering shadows caused by the torchlight. Natalia was tense and ready to draw her swords at any given moment. Biff stopped when they came across three corridors.

Artus nudged him to get him going again, but he didn’t move. “Well, I came down this path straight ahead when I saw a strange light shoot down this way. Which means….” Biff squinted his eyes, unsure where to go next. “We should go this way!” He pointed to the right passage, but didn’t sound too convincing.

“You sure Biff? This way looks…odd.” Artus expressed his doubts about his decision. Natalia wasn’t too impressed by the decision making process, but gave Biff the benefit of the doubt.

“Are you gonna let me make decisions, or are you gonna be a little b*tch?” Biff snapped. He obviously disliked the way he was being treated. Artus gave him an irritated look, but didn’t say anything. “Like I said my man, I don’t like it when you push me around.”

They let Biff lead them down the corridor without any further complaints. He’d better know what he’s doing. If this turns out to be just a waste of time things could get nasty for him. Eventually, they arrived into a room, not unlike the one they had fallen into. There were, however some noticeable differences – there were three skeletons lying on the floor and several torches were illuminating the room. Their flames moved a bit in the slight draft, which indicated there could be another way out of the room. Biff stopped and seemed completely clueless.

“Biff, where the Hell did you take us?” Artus asked while looking around.

“I don’t really know…Honestly, this place gets so confusing, it gets hard to memorize where you have been and stuff.” Biff answered, not really bothered where they were. He took a look around to satisfy his curiosity. Natalia was about to explode. What do you mean, you don’t know? You’ve been here long enough to go insane, but still don’t know the way around! How useless can you be? She clenched her fingers into a fist and ground her teeth. She was about to lash out at Biff, when something got his attention. “Hey guys! Come on o’er here!” He excitedly waved his torch around and pointed at the wall. Given how he reacted, Natalia was expecting he found a switch of some kind, but it wasn’t anything even remotely as useful.

“Yeah…so? This is what you’re all excited about? It’s just a drawing, idiot.” Artus said to Biff, who was nodding in agreement.

“It could mean something, ya know?” Biff said enthusiastically. Natalia couldn’t disagree more, it was just a random drawing of a bird on a wall.

“I don’t know….” Artus turned to Asher and Natalia. “Can you guys make anything out of it?”

Natalia didn’t even bother taking a closer look. “It’ probably nothing, anyone could have made it. All I know is that we can’t rely on Biff anymore. His knows these tunnels as well as we do, which is to say not at all.” Biff didn’t react, as he was still admiring the drawing with open mouth. “However, I don’t see much point in retracing our steps, as we were just as lost back there as we are now.” Natalia walked towards the wall opposite to the corridor and pressed her ear against it. It was cold and slightly damp. She was listening for the sound of the wind coming through the cracks. “I think the best thing would be to locate the source of the draft and then try to make a hole in that wall so we can make it to the other side.”

They headed out from the cell, without further discussion. They'd walked for about a minute when Coelnar heard singing coming from down one of the passages. It seemed to be singing. And as far as Coelnar could tell, it was awful. It didn't sound like any type of song he was familiar with. He looked at the others, expecting to see a look of confusion much like his own, but what he saw on Ethan's face puzzled him. He didn't seem confused, but there was something wrong. He looked.. Scared, almost, and that was strange. Coelnar stayed silent. He didn't want to point it out.. But it puzzled him. Ethan didn't seem like the type to get scared by singing. Maybe it was the lyrics, but to Coelnar they sounded like complete nonsense. Something about Boney.

He pretended not to notice, but glanced at Ethan's face now and again. There was definitely something bothering him, that was obvious. The singing got closer, and eventually an old man hobbled into sight. He looked incredibly frail, barely up to walking, but his face lit up when he saw Ethan. There was something going on. "Well I never!" the man cried, soinding excited. Ethan's expression looked somewhere between panic, confusion, and dislike as the old man tried to hug him. Obviously Ethan was a big fan of hugs. "Captain Ethan Daggett!" the old man yelled. He knows Ethans name? But what's with the 'captain'? Coelnar thought suspiciously.

“Captain Ethan Daggett of the Myrydian! The pirate KING they called him they did!” the old man shouted, sounding thrilled. “I can’t believe you came back to rescue me! Oh Ethan!” Coelnar's eyes narrowed and he turned to Ethan. Ethan tried to talk his way out of it. "Heh.." he said, not even doing them the decency of admitting it, which annoyed Coelnar more. "Crazy old man." this did it.

" Who knew your full name? Don't lie to me, Ethan. Haven't you done that enough? Pirate?" Coelnar said, a hint of anger in his voice. It wasn't that he had any particular grudge against pirates, but that wasn't what annoyed him. "So, when were you planning to tell us about this, Captain? Or were you just going to wait, and hope the subject never came up. I thought we were at least important enough for you to be honest with. And don't say you never actually lied. You witheld the truth, and in my mind, there's little difference. Explain yourself." he said. His voice was cold, and his eyes locked onto Ethan's. "Now."

Ethan Daggett: Post 20

Ethan Daggett
Galvez Maze

Ethan waited for the reactions.

"Who knew your full name? Don't lie to me, Ethan. Haven't you done that enough? Pirate?" Coelnar replied. His voice sounded angry. Ethan hadn’t seen Coelnar angry like this before "So, when were you planning to tell us about this, Captain? Or were you just going to wait, and hope the subject never came up. I thought we were at least important enough for you to be honest with. And don't say you never actually lied. You withheld the truth, and in my mind, there's little difference. Explain yourself." He spoke firmly and confidently. He locked eyes with Ethan "Now.”

Jasper held up his finger as if to start speaking, Ethan looked at him threateningly. Jasper got the message and didn’t speak

Ethan was silent for a moment. This was exactly as he had expected it to go. Ethan turned to Coelnar and took a breath.
“Is it really that important?” He replied. “It’s not exactly something many people would consider a ‘noble’ profession. For all I knew when you found out I would have been left on my own. What about the others like Asher and Natalia. You think they would take it well?” Ethan was silent for a few more seconds. “Look. What does it matter what I do for a living? I can fight, I can walk.” Ethan thought for a moment more “Alright, fine. I’m sorry.” He said “I should have told you.” Ethan’s voice wasn’t completely genuine. It sounded rushed. Frankly, he wanted to lay the topic to rest for now.

“I don’t know….can you guys make anything out of it?” Artus asked as he looked at Asher and Natalia. Natalia seemed didn’t even bother taking a closer inspection of the drawing Biff found, as she seemed more interested in something else.

“It’s probably nothing, anyone could have made it. All I know is that we can’t rely on Biff anymore. His knows these tunnels as well as we do, which is to say not at all.” Artus looked at Biff who didn’t react, and continued to look at the drawing. “However, I don’t see much point in retracing our steps, as we were just as lost back there as we are now.” Artus nodded in agreement. Natalia walked towards the wall opposite to the corridor and pressed her ear against it.It appeared as if she was listening to something through the wall. “I think the best thing would be to locate the source of the draft and then try to make a hole in that wall so we can make it to the other side.”

“Hmmm….yeah.” Biff started to talk whilst still looking at the drawing. “These caves have stuff like that all the time. Their pretty hard to take down unless you got the right tools, or magic.” He then looked at the three and gave a perverted looking smile. “They usually lead to more passages and whatnot, and they make great hiding spots from the beast. Me and my friends found one once. Can’t really remember what was in it though.“ He then stopped and walked towards the wall that Natalia was at. “Move aside, toots.” He said as he shoved Natalia to the side to closer inspect the wall. Artus chuckled a bit, but quickly stopped as he realized it was not the time to be joking around. “Hmmm…this wall does seem to be breakable….” He gave it a couple of jabs with one hand while holding the torch in the other. “Do you guys know any magic that could break this wall down? It doesn’t seem very strong.” Biff looked at the three, expecting an answer.

It wouldn’t be fair if I asked Natalia to do something after I just asked her to do that other spell. And Asher did save me from falling down and seriously hurting myself, not to mention suffer a serious blow from that Centipede. Artus did in fact want to save his mana for later, but seeing as it was recovering fairly quicker than he originally thought, he figured it wouldn’t be a problem if he did a few spells here and there. Not to mention Asher did quite a bit in the last battle, and the last thing Artus wanted was Asher and Natalia seeing him as selfish, asking other people to do stuff. “Biff move aside.” Artus said as he grabbed Biff, and once again shoved him to the side. Biff groaned and shouted, but Artus ignored it. He put his hands on the wall. “It’s kind of damp…” Artus said. He looked around for water, but couldn’t really see anything. Not that it mattered though, seeing as if it was wet already, then it would make his Lightning based spells even more effective. Artus concentrated his mana to his hand, and released the ever-so simple, yet reliable ThunderBolt spell. He kept his hand off the wall, to make sure there his hand didn’t get blown off or something. Bright yellow electricity started to partially envelop the wall. Artus amped up the power a bit, and sparks started to fly, creating cackling and sizzling sounds.

“Wow! Look at him go! No wonder he’s the team leader, huh?” Biff shouted at Asher and Natalia, while swinging his torch around in excitement. Suddenly, a loud rumble was heard as a narrow passage was formed out of a small explosion let out from Artus’ magic. Smoke started to fill the room, along with steam and debris. Artus coughed a bit, and as the smoke cleared up, there was small, but passable hole that was blown into the rocky surface. There were black burn marks on the edges from the magic, and it smelt like burnt rocks. “Whoo! Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” Biff jumped up and down, as the cloth covering his crotch waved around as well.

“Biff, stop doing that…” Artus said calmly, trying to stop Biff from jumping any further or more vigorously. Biff looked confusingly, but realized what Artus meant afterwards.

“Right, sorry. Forgot. My bad.” Biff walked up to the passage and turned sideways to walk through, holding the torch in his hand. Artus waited for a minute before asking how it was in there. “Yeah guys, it’s all good! There’s another tunnel that goes down here!” He yelled from the other side. Artus looked at the group wile wiping off dust from his pants.

“Well then, let’s go.” Without hesitation, Artus walked through the passage. He looked back and gestured the group to come along as well. “I think it’s clear.” As he went through he saw Biff standing there, waiting for the group. It was significantly darker in this tunnel than the others. There were no torches mounted anywhere. The only light came from the torch held in Biff’s hand, and who knew how long it would last. This is where a Fire-spell would come in handy… Artus thought. His genetics made it hard for him to learn Fire based spells. His whole family, even both of his parents’ side had the affinity for Lightning. Occasionally you would get the odd child who was different, but even then, Lightning magic would most likely come naturally, although maybe not as dominant. “Say Biff, how much you think that torch has got left?”

Biff looked at Biff while walking. It was hard to see his face, because of the harsh light the flames produced in the darkness. “I’m not sure about that. It does seem to be dying out a bit doesn’t it? Besides, if we do run out, we can always use your Lightning magic, right?” Biff looked behind at Artus. Artus looked at his hand and nodded.

“Yeah…I guess so…” He said. Hell if I am! They’ll never make me just waste my energy like that… As they continued to walk, Artus realized he was meaning to ask Biff a somewhat important question. “Hey, Biff…” He paused for a moment. “How long have you been down here for?” He asked Biff. Suddenly, he stopped abruptly, causing Artus to bump into him. “Hey! What is it? Is it the beast?”” Artus said panicky, as he looked around trying to find a place to hide.

“….I’ve been down here for around a month…” Biff said, as he started to walk again. As they went around the corner, Artus could see light down in the tunnel. There were torches mounted up against the wall, however these ones produced a far dimmer light than the one they had. A month…how is that possible? What did he eat or drink…? Biff coughed and started to speak again. “You see, the river travels around the prison…and occasionally you’ll run into small coves here in the tunnels. The water is good to drink though….” Biff said, ending his sentence with a somewhat cliffhanger.

“I see. So you just drank water and that’s it? I mean I guess that’s why you’ve gotten so skinny.” Artus laughed a bit, to lighten the mood. He knew the joke wasn’t even that funny, but he needed to ease himself. They passed a narrow crossroads and came to a dead end. The torches that Artus thought were in the tunnel, turned out to be nothing more than some sort of glowing moss-like stuff on the sides of the cave. They gave off a faint glow, but the only dominant light came from the torch held by Biff. “Is this is the end of the tunnel? Just a dead end?” Artus said as he looked. Biff nodded sideways, as he pressed his hand up against the wall. In front of them, stood a large, circular entrance of some sort made of stone. It had weird markings on it, with carvings of weird looking creatures and what looked like people attacking them, and riding on them. “Is this….the exit?!” Artus exclaimed.

“I think so. I have seen one of them before, and this one looks more or less the same.” Biff said, speaking much more intelligently before. “But its no use, ‘cus we don’t got the password.” Biff said frowning.

C’mon…there has to be something…Artus wanted to get out so badly, he could barely hold in his emotions. He just wanted out of the cave, and was willing to do anything. He pushed the entrance, and waited for a few moments. Nothing happened. “Damn it…”

“Even if you did have the password, you think it would be that easy to get out? It’s probably booby trapped to explode or sumptin’ when opened through the cave.” Biff said.

Artus looked at Biff. “How can that be? YOU were the one that said the wardens themselves use it when they come down here. Does that mean they would die?” Artus said, trying to act smart.

“Bro, this is magic we’re talking about. Anything’s possible.” Biff leaned against the rocky surface with the torch still in his hand.

“Well, if we do have any ideas…then you’ll be the one who opens it, you got that?” Artus’ tone went dead serious. He was so close to freedom he was almost happy that they would be back on the first floor of the prison. “You guys have any ideas? Any suggestions at all?” He then looked at Asher. “You seem like the guy who would be good at this problem solving sh*t.” Artus was starting to get a bit panicky as the tone in his voice turned into more along the lines of nervousness.

((OOC: Sorry if this post is sub-par, but it’s finals week for me and my mind just isn’t functioning at the same speed that it normally does.))

Galvez PrisonAsher Ikakois

“I guess you’re right, Asher. Now’s not the time to be arguing,” Artus said, agreeing with him. Natalia was staring at him as if he had done something that was unnecessary; although, the construct was unsure of whether what he had “said” had been the correct thing to say, as he could be considered paranoid. “Well, it doesn’t seem to look like anything is gonna jump out at us. From what I saw, it looks like a straightforward tunnel. But I guess we won’t get anything done by just standing here,” Artus continued. In the moments that Natalia had illuminated the tunnel for, Asher had not peered down the path; therefore, he had almost expected the footsteps that quickly approached the trio.

Artus drew his sword, “Guys…get ready,” he said, suspicious of the unknown. A disheveled, odd man emerged from the darkness of the tunnel and stared at Asher.

’Why is he staring at me? Is he a fellow prisoner?’

Natalia had drawn her swords by the time that the man had reached her, and he started to sniff her. The skin of the man was covered in multiple wounds, most infected and festering. ’So. This is the result of the lack of a healing spell. To insure Natalia’s and Artus’ survival, I shall place myself between them and their enemies. I can sustain myself if it is required.’ As the prisoner moved on to investigate Artus, Asher noted that Natalia took on a more relaxed pose and sheathed her swords. ’Ah, Natalia…please be careful.’

The man suddenly pointed at Artus and shouted. “You! Do you remember me?! We were together that night in the carriage!” He began to try and emphasize his point by poking Artus.

“Uhhh…what?” Artus was confused; nevertheless, he pushed the man away. “What carriage?” He had no knowledge of the man…perhaps he had mistaken him for another person? Black hair was very common.

“Remember? We were on the carriage to Galvez! You saved us!” the man explained, probably confusing the word “carriage” with one of its synonyms.

“Oh crap! You’re one of the survivors from Nalan?! How did you end up back here? I thought you guys ran away?” Artus realized that he did know the person, but he was still confused.

Natalia was still wary of the stranger and inched away from the others, but she was still too late. The odd man hugged the trio. Asher tensed up; nearly panicking—human touch was still uncomfortable for him and this unknown person had, without warning, wrapped his arms around him to squeeze him against Natalia. “I think the better question is…how did you end up here? It doesn’t matter, as long as we’re together,” the man said, a bit too comfortable with situation. He motioned for Artus to join, and Asher tried to inch away from the group. Natalia was eyeing her swords, evidently displeased that she had sheathed them. “C’mon, we can cuddle together!” The man had, in Asher’s mind, undergone a description change from “random man” to “random creeper” and the construct wished that he would let Natalia and him go. Perhaps sensing that Natalia’s patience was wearing thin, the man released them and said, “The name’s Biff by the way.” He wandered over to talk with Artus.

“Look, Biff, I don’t suppose you know the way out, do you?” Artus put stress on Biff’s name, and was surprised when the man nodded. “You do?!” Asher supposed that he could tolerate Biff if he refrained from touching him, and Natalia seemed to echo his decision. Artus, on the other hand, looked nearly elated.

“Of course. Everybody down here knows the way out. It’s getting out that’s the problem. You see…” Biff said, and Asher grew suspicious—“the way out” could easily be death. Biff sorted himself out and said, “They keep a monster in this cave. A ‘pet’ if you will. Occasionally, the wardens will come down to feed the beast, when prisoners like us are getting low. And that’s the exit.” Asher realized that “death” had been the correct answer, but he would not give up, as, even if he were to be eaten, he would survive that encounter as it would only be the container for the core that was destroyed. Biff shuffled around again and continued, “But…. They recently changed all the entrances and exits to this underground hell, so if you want to leave, you’re gonna have to look for the exits. And once you found it, you just got to open it with da magic.” His frequent pauses were alarming to Asher—low food combined with the dungeon’s atmosphere could quickly reduce one’s thoughts to shambles, as evidenced by Biff.

”Magic? Does it have writing in a password, or do we merely need magic to activate it?’

Artus, impatient, gestured at Biff to continue. “Only….the wardens have the thingy to open the doors. It’s sort of like a secret password. You gotta draw it out and just activate it. The doors are enchanted or sumptin’ like that, and by writing it out, it dispells the enchantment for a bit. At least that's the only way out that I know of. There could be more. Besides, only people capable of using magic can open it, like you guys.” He looked at Natalia and Asher, trying to determine if they could use magic. “Not to mention, nobody knows the password, and they change it every so often.”

’So it iswriting. But why does he call it alternatively “drawing” and “writing”? Is the password a character? Are we penalized if we input the incorrect character?’ Asher curiosity was roused, and he began to pay more attention while completely forgetting about the “pet”.

Walking over to Artus, Biff started to laugh a laugh that Asher had associated with students who had had far too little sleep and far too many tests. People often called it “crazy”, and perhaps it was, but it was merely a person trying to laugh off their stress. “But there’s no hope. We’re pretty much dead.” Asher was confused. If they knew the exit, then was it not a simple matter to locate a lone Warden, incapacitate it, and take the password?

’Ah, is it the monster that is preventing their departure from this maze?’

“You know…I’ve seen the monster here….twice,” Biff said, after calming down a bit. Unfortunately, what he did next transferred his stress to Asher, as Biff began to feel Asher’s hair. The construct disliked physical contact from people that he did not know well, and he had had no rest, so he had a small panic attack.

’Please stop touching me, please stop touching me,’ Asher repeated over and over again in his mind, trying to calm himself down. It did not work.

“And I survived both times. It has the stench of a thousand rotting corpses, and can kill with the swipe of a claw,” Biff said, and stopped harassing Asher. He went on to stare at Natalia. “It will snap you like a twig easily, girly.” Artus was the last of the trio to be talked at. “And it will eat every last bit of flesh on your body, and use your bones as toothpicks. Trust me when I say, we’re dead.”

’Huh? “Use your bones as toothpicks”? Does that mean that it has hands? He did mention claws before, so thinking of this as a bipedal creature might not be inaccurate,’ he thought, concentrating on what might be the wrong elements of the monster. ’If its odor is that unpleasant, or perhaps that is hyperbole, then it will be easy to evade so long as I can smell it before it nears. It must have bad grooming practices, to smell of those that it has killed.’

“Say whatever prayers you want now, and beg for forgiveness. And hope that all your sins will be washed away,” Biff said as he kneeled. Asher was not religious in the least, so he ignored that. “Welcome to Hell folks. After we die, we’ll get sent back here again, and this time, there will be no escape.”

“Biff, just shut up. Please.” Artus was as vexed as everyone else; however, he seemed to be occupied with thoughts of his own. “I don’t know….should we go and look for the exit?” he finally said, after many moments. It struck Asher as a particularly un-Artus-like question, seeing as he had blindly led the group into several traps before.

“I’m not sure. Do you want to stay here until the end of your days or do you want to see the light of day again?” Natalia asked, irate. Artus replied with a frown and considered things for a bit until Natalia went on. “I know what I’d rather do, but if you prefer the first option, I’d recommend you use your sword to take your own life before you turn to the kind of lunatic your friend here is.” Asher knew that Artus was not the person to consider suicide as a viable option, but he did agree with Natalia that sanity slippage was rather unhealthy; although, if they were to remain in the prison, then Asher might consider terminating his own existence—after all, he was merely a collection of memories held together and learned from by a processor. “But before you do that, do you think you could help me and Asher find the way out? I promise I’ll let you stay here, if you’ll still feel you’ll have doubts when we find the exit.” Turning to Asher, and giving him a look, Natalia said, “What do you think? Do you want to get out of here or do have you also given up already?”

Asher shook his head, but did not write anything on his piece of metal. 'If I interfere now, then will the arguing continue?’

“If anybody wants to come with me, you’re more than welcome. We’ll discuss the details on the way, I don’t want to lose time just standing there. It’s unlikely our condition will improve down here, so we need to get going,” she said, and hurried off into the darkness. Asher took a few hesitant steps after her, and then stopped when he saw Artus considering something. He would prefer that the group remain whole, as the mortality rate would only go up as they separated.

“Alright let’s go. Obviously our fearless captain here knows the way out.” Artus was trying his hand at sarcasm, but he sounded a bit too tired to be effective. As Artus shook down Biff and they departed, Asher took the rearguard of the group. He knew that he could survive an attack from the beast if it could not destroy his core or his mana pool in one shot, and he was the only one of the party with that ability. His senses were also sharper than a human’s, so he could detect something approaching.

Asher could not hear what Biff and Artus were arguing about, but he did catch that Artus was called something had the construct had been called a few times. He had disliked those times and those people, but he had learned that being non-responsive was a very effective tactic against that.

The end of the tunnel was another larger sub-section of the cave, and there were three skeletons propped up against the wall. Asher disliked that, but he made no comment. A slight draft could be felt. Artus and Biff argued some more, and one of the two (Asher was confused at this point) pointed out a drawing of a bird. When Asher went closer to look at the bird, he could not tell whether the wings were open or folded as the drawing had been degraded. The caves reverberated, and Asher thought that that may have been the monster, but he ignored it in favor of inspecting the picture

’A bird? What meaning could that have? Snowbird, jailbird, canary in a cage, fly away, canary in a coal mine? I am sure that there are more meanings of that bird, but what?’ Asher was intrigued; things that were ambiguous interested him, for things that were obvious held no meaning for him.

Natalia tried to locate the source of the draft why listening for the wind. Asher wondered why Natalia was doing that until Biff commented that he had found a place like that before. He was too shy to speak up and volunteer to destroy the wall unless he was the only one able to do so. Artus placed his hand near the weakness of the wall and fired a lightning-based spell at it. ’Ah, I could have broken the wall down. I did want to help, but….’

As they continued past the hole in the wall, Asher began seriously considering whether accompanying the group was the brightest thing to do. Certainly, though, he felt as if he had no purpose and was merely attempting to be helpful, but was this the best way to go about it? Perhaps it would have been better to dedicate himself to saving as many people as he could by fending off Diaz’s troops, which would have been a viable option if he had known how to fight.

The new tunnel was not lit and thus considerably darker than the previous section of the cave, but Asher could, if need be, feel his way through the cave. ’Does Artus specialize in Lightning magic? That spell was powerful. If I were to use it, then it would have made nary a dent in the wall. I suppose that my lack of long-range spells is because of my alignment of Earth. There are not many Earth-based long-range spells and I had no need to learn any until now.’

“….I’ve been down here for around a month…” Biff said after stopping suddenly, which caused Artus to nearly walk into him. Asher immediately thought of the small snacks that he had in his bag—not nearly enough for an extended period of time, but the construct could live by using Restoration if need be. “You see, the river travels around the prison…and occasionally you’ll run into small coves here in the tunnels. The water is good to drink though….” Asher wondered if there would the small blind fish, which he had read about, in the pools of water that had been trapped over the years. If there were, then they could prolong their lives without having to bust out immediately.

Artus chuckled a bit and, rather insensitively, said, “I see. So you just drank water and that’s it? I mean I guess that’s why you’ve gotten so skinny.” The crossroad in the path interested Asher, but he ignored that in favor of looking and touching the moss on the side of the cave. The gave off a dim light, enough so that Asher could make his way through, but the torch illuminated the majority of what Asher could see. “Is this is the end of the tunnel? Just a dead end?” Artus asked, before Asher could get too caught up in the moss and fall behind. “Is this….the exit?!”

Biff nodded and said, “I think so. I have seen one of them before, and this one looks more or less the same. But it’s no use, ‘cus we don’t got the password.”

’Do the “doors” share the same password if they are alike, or do they have individual ones? It seems as if it would be confusing for the wardens if they had different passwords, or maybe there are markers? Something about the carvings on the door…maybe those are unique to each door? I need to see another door to confirm this. Wandering around would be unwise, though, but that is the onl—no. That is not our sole option. I could absorb or transform the door and take whatever attack it throws at us, unless it summons the beast,’ Asher thought, considering what tools they had to escape. They had Artus and Natalia’s sheer magical power, Asher’s knowledge, and Biff’s…torch?

“Damn it…,” Artus swore, the pressure bearing down him.

“Even if you did have the password, you think it would be that easy to get out? It’s probably booby trapped to explode or sumptin’ when opened through the cave,” Biff said, skeptical of their escaping abilities.

’If they are merely bait for unwary prisons, then what if the wardens are required to use the door? Do they have an item that prevents the door from springing a trap upon? Or has no one happened upon the correct password yet?’ Asher was trying examine all of their options, but the question of how the wardens avoided the backlash of the door was not voiced by him.

“How can that be? YOU were the one that said the wardens themselves use it when they come down here. Does that mean they would die?” Artus asked while looking at Biff. Asher did not like his tone of voice, but he knew that the members of the party were vexed and prone to snapping at people.

“Bro, this is magic we’re talking about. Anything’s possible,” Biff said. It sounded to Asher as if he had given up and was trying to excuse himself from the conversation. Biff slumped against the side of the cavern, torch still in-hand.

“Well, if we do have any ideas…then you’ll be the one who opens it, you got that?” Artus said, in a deadpan voice that seemed very unlike him. Asher would have volunteered to be the one to attempt to open the door because he could survive more than a human, but then there was the potential for them to discover that he was a construct. “You guys have any ideas? Any suggestions at all?” They were so close to freedom an yet this infernal door was standing in their way. Artus turned t Asher and said, “You seem like the guy who would be good at this problem solving sh*t.” His voice was strained and he was irate at the freedom being palpable, but unreachable.

Asher stepped forward to examine the door and traced the outlines of the carved figures while avoiding letting his magic touch the stone. ’Eh? What are these creatures? Why are some of them being attacked by humans and some ridden by humans? Are they just decorations? No…they give off an aura of magic. Do I have to arrange them in a certain way? The architect of this place must like stone arches and ornate carvings an awful lot….’ He moved his fingers along the carvings, trying to determine if any of them had been moved or touched in the past. After a while he happened upon one that resembled a bird, and he made a note not to infuse magic near that one, because Biff had mentioned that they changed the password regularly and the rough picture of the bird looked rather old. Asher sighed; they had no clues, and Artus expected a miracle. ’Oh. What if I made a weapon out of the door?’ He attempted to use Weapon Formation on the door, but to no avail as the stone would not transform. ’Why? If I use Restoration, then will they realize that I’m not human? But…if we do not escape, then the situation will be worse….Restoration.’ He tried to spread his body against the door in order to seem as if he were melting the door if it were to be absorbed, but the door refused to be absorbed.

Asher turned around to face Artus. ’If I tell him that all I know is that the door cannot be modified, and that the bird is not the password, then how will he react?’ Asher, having placed the piece of metal in the bag earlier, took it out once again and considered his words. He could tell Artus what he had discovered, but then it would be apparent that he was made out of stone and dirt—he had to phrase his explanation in a way that neither Artus nor Natalia could determine that he was not human. He had grown nervous and he began to look at his feet, for he was a naturally unpretentious person, and taking charge of any number of people was nerve-wracking for him.

He held the sign up in front of him, and it said, “The carvings on the door are either difficult to alter, or unable to be altered; any carvings of birds are to be avoided (the password has changed).” He thought for a few moments more, and under the original statement, the metal said, “The password might be a character or a drawing; I doubt that it is a word.” He had decided that it was not a string of letters, but was either a pictogram or character because of the multiple carvings on the door, which left no space for words, unless they encircled the pictures.

((OOC: I have discovered that BB-code loathes me. I have got to post shorter posts.))

Last edited by Corrosion; 31st May 2013 at 5:06 AM.

Originally Posted by bobandbill

Originally Posted by zomegax7249

So now it's not enough that we beat the NPCs, now we have to steal their clothes as well? Isn't this basically mugging them?

Suddenly the aim of the Pokémon games is apparent. It isn't to catch them all, or to be the best trainer, or to learn about the values of friendship with strange monsters that can breathe fire and whatnot.

Fabian decided to follow behind Keres after an exit was made. He didn’t say much as he trailed behind him. He was thinking of how he was going to get out of such a frustrating situation. He heard screaming from up ahead. It was the voice of a woman. Keres reaction didn’t help much as he rushed towards the woman. She was obviously being held here by the wardens. She was chained to the wall. Her clothes were tattered and dirty. She was distraught and begging for help. Fabian figured that they could help her, and then she could offer them help in leaving the dungeon that they were in.

Keres was aggressive in his approach. His unnecessary aggression was scaring her even more. She was becoming quite hysterical by this point. Fabian looked was just about to intervene until Keres slashed her throat in one quick movement. Her screams for help were silenced, but a sickly gurgling noise could be heard for a short moment.

Fabian did not know how to react. He was frozen in place by shock and frustration. Her screams were sure to draw attention to them, but he was certain that he could have calmed her down. Just like that, Keres had slit the throat of their opportunity to escape and gain a sense of direction. Fabian was definitely more uneasy being around Keres than he initially was. Fabian had grown to realize that killing someone was becoming quite commonplace as a means of survival, but he had never met someone that could do so without showing a sign of remorse or contemplation. It was his instinct. Fabian figured that since Keres so easily killed this woman, he would have no problem killing him. They didn’t know much about each other at this point, other than the fact that they both could wield magic. Fabian decided that his goal of making Keres his best friend to avoid dying at his hands would be of utmost importance.

Fabian breathed in deeply before exhaling. He swallowed before walking over to Keres, “That wasn’t a wise move. Next person we meet, please avoid killing them. Better yet, why don’t you convert her into one of those creepy dead things you manage to make so well?”

Artus watched as Asher pressed himself up against the stone gate. Biff stood in unusual silence behind them, still resting against the wall. He stood there for a few moments as if he were wondering what to do. What is he up to…? Artus wasn’t aware of all of Asher’s abilities, so he was hoping that he maybe had a trick or two up his sleeve. Soon after, Asher got off the wall and turned to look at Artus. He took out his metal plate that he used to talk.

“The carvings on the door are either difficult to alter, or unable to be altered; any carvings of birds are to be avoided (the password has changed).” Artus looked at the writing Asher put in his metal plate, and sighed. He knew it would be too good to be true. There was no way that the password would be written on it for everyone to find. Artus looked again at the writing, and under it, Asher wrote : “The password might be a character or a drawing; I doubt that it is a word.” Artus sighed again, but then smiled at Asher and nodded.

“Thanks Asher. At least now we kind of know what to look for…” He walked up to the gate and pressed his hands on it, observing the carvings. If only they had some clue, or something to go on. “Biff, you have any ideas as to what the password might be? A possible character or something like Asher said?” He spoke in a more serious tone and was starting to get a bit nervous. Biff stood in complete silence, and hesitated for a few seconds before speaking.

“…Uhhh…no, actually I don’t.” Biff spoke somewhat quietly and more serious as well. Usually he would ramble on about something, but for some reason he kept to himself. Artus cussed and he lightly hit the wall with his fist. If it’s not the bird…then what is it? Artus felt as if his brain was going to explode. He was putting in so much effort to try and figure this problem out. “Hey, can I ask you guys something?” Biff asked. Artus turned around gave him an annoyed look. “What do we do once we get out, assuming if we get out?” He asked again.

“We go after the Commander obviously. What does this have to with anything? We’re not even out yet and you’re already talking about what to do once you’re free?” Artus snapped at Biff. At this point he had enough. He was irritated at Biff, who constantly kept asking questions and literally leading them nowhere. “Biff, just shut up.” He spoke in a neutral tone. “You can do whatever you want once you get out. Happy?”

Biff looked at Artus as if he were about to cry. “So…you’re gonna go after Ghan and then what? Everything’s all good? I know what you’re trying to do now, it’s obvious. You just want to teach him a lesson ‘cus you think it’ll make yourself feel good that you killed the guy who was in charge of destroying our village. Well, you’re wrong! Ghan wasn’t in charge, it’s ultimately Diaz’s choice!” Biff was tearing up a bit for some reason. Artus wasn’t sure what Biff was trying to do, but he wasn’t his usual weird self. As if he had another side to him. “Besides, he has three more Commanders…killing this one won’t do anything.”

Artus was caught off guard by Biff’s little speech. While he did speak some truth, he also knew that Ghan was in fact, not the only Commander. “Then we get all of them. And then we go after Diaz.” Artus spoke calmly, yet inside he felt beating Biff. He wanted out of this cave, and Biff was prolonging it, blocking his thoughts. “Biff, shut up now, so I can think.” Artus closed his eyes momentarily to think. He focused on something he would have seen either prior or during his brief entrance to the prison. C’mon…think….He knew the bird drawing they saw earlier probably had some significance, seeing as it was also carved into the gate, however Asher said that particular drawing should be avoided, as the password has supposedly changed. And they didn't want to spring any traps. “Biff, that drawing of the bird you saw…was its wings opened, or folded?”

Biff looked at Artus to think for a moment. “Hmmm…not sure, the drawing was old and parts of it were degraded. All I know is that bird drawing is not the only one I have seen since my stay here. I have seen many bird doodles, some different, and some same.” It wasn’t much help, but at least he knew it held some sort of significance. “…But I think I have a guess as to what the password may be.” Artus suddenly shot up in an upright position.

“Well, what’re you waiting for? Go and draw it!” He grabbed Biff and violently threw him at the gate. “Anything is better than nothing. Besides, if it is ‘booby-trapped’ like you said it is, then at least we’ll have nothing to worry about.” As Biff picked up a rock getting ready to carve something into the gate, as he hesitated after hearing Artus’ last comment.

“…what do you mean ‘nothing’ to worry about? What if it's wrong?” Biff asked, in a soft tone which almost made him sound helpless.

“I mean, it’s better YOU than us. You get it Biff? It’s gonna be either you or us. Like you said before, we’re dead anyways, so why do you care?” Artus wasn’t normally like this, but he was getting antsy and wanted Biff to hurry up and draw whatever he was about to. Biff’s eyes became teary again as he started to draw something into little spaces using the sharp edge of the rock. After a little while, he stepped back. Artus shoved Biff to the side. He walked up to the gate to observe what he drew. In the space between the other carvings, he had drawn what seemed to the outline of an owl. “This is it? This is the password? It’s just an owl or something.” It was different than the other bird drawing on gate, which was much more detailed and ornate. Not to mention it was a different bird. “You wanna tell me how you came up with this?” He asked him.

“…It’s…hard to explain. I saw a bunch of these drawings down here a couple of days ago. I’ve noticed that it changes every so often, so I’m pretty sure the drawings correspond with Ghan’s-“ Biff looked at Artus who was still busy looking at the drawing he made, making no effort to listen to what Biff had to say. “Hey! I’m trying to tell you how I got it! It could help you later on you know? I think you should listen to what I have to say!” Biff frantically yelled at Artus who was still not listening. He backed off, and looked at Natalia and Asher. “Hey, you guys aren’t going to leave me right? I mean, I’m pretty important to the team, right?” He started to get on his knees in front of them, grabbing both of their hands and pleading.

“Biff, knock it off! We can talk about this after we get out.” Artus snapped at him once again, as he quickly got back on his feet. “Assuming you were able to carve this into the stone, and nothing happened, that means there was no trap like you said, right? Unless you got it correct, and the trap was dispelled.” He looked at him with one eyebrow raised. Biff looked around again cautiously, and hesitated before speaking.

“….I guess so…” Biff said. Artus pressed his hand against the gate. He focused his mana to his hand, the door suddenly lit up. The carvings were glowing a bright blue, illuminating the darkness of the cave. The carvings of the creatures illuminated, and everything was clearly seen. Biff’s drawing was lighting up as well, but suddenly vanished as a loud rumble came from the door and echoed through the cave. “I think I spoke too soon.” Biff turned around to look at the corridor behind him. Suddenly, a low growl followed by a blast of air rushed through the tunnel, bringing in dust and other debris. The wind blew out the torch in Biff’s hand, creating a darkness as the lights on the gate dimmed out. Artus covered his nose as a rotten stench lingered in the air.

“What the hell…” Artus felt a chill down his spine. There was no denying, this was the beast Biff was talking about, and they were at a dead end. Suddenly, right after the gate lights dimmed, a circular hole opened up at the bottom, big enough for a person to walk through, similar to a door. “C’mon let’s go!” Artus yelled as he ran for the opening, until he felt someone grab him by belt. “Hey! Let go!” He tried to grab the hand, and realized it was Biff. “Biff, you a*shole! What are you doing?!” Artus grabbed the arm, and gripped it tightly and twisted it, hearing a crack.

“Owww! No, please! Take me with you!” Artus heard a thud behind him, and realized he had just hurt Biff and he had fell to the ground. Crap… Artus quickly yelled at Asher and Natalia to get inside the opening, as he grabbed Biff by the arm and pulled him towards the gate. As Artus got to the opening, he ducked his head and walked through, making sure not to hit his head. Suddenly, while pulling Biff through, something had grabbed him from his lower body. “It’s got me! Don’t let go!” Biff started to yell. Artus saw blood squirt out of his mouth, and a low growl came from the other side of the opening, following a strong tug that ripped Biff out of Artus’ hands. Biff yelled, but was cut off in silence, which was soon interrupted by disgusting crunching noises from the other side of the gate. Artus stepped back, as the opening started to close again, drowning out the noise, and then lit up before finally closing.

Artus stood silently, looking down, still trying to process what had just happened. He didn’t mean to hurt Biff. Artus stared at the gate some more before turning around to the others. What they had just encountered was death itself. Artus took a good look at their surroundings. They had seemed to be in some sort of storage room. It was kind of big, and had various things such as brooms, cabinets and shelves filled with boxes and crates. On the ceiling was a small orb, lighting up the room. He looked at the group, not mentioning Biff’s death. Artus felt guilty for treating Biff like an object, realizing he had helped them more than he thought. “We should be more careful from now on. No more arguing.” He said, giving Natalia a rather serious look to show he meant business. It was arguing that originally put Artus in the mood that he showed in the cave, along with Biff’s bickering, and he wasn’t proud of the way he acted. However, he knew that Asher was the calmer one in the group, and kind of wished that he had his ability to not overreact. Artus walked up to the storage door, trying to vigorously shake it, but it was locked, almost as if it were to prevent anything from entering from the inside. He looked back at Asher and Natalia, hoping they would try and open the door somehow.

((OOC: Asher or Natalia, feel free to bust open the door if you want, or you can just leave it and Artus will open it, it doesn't matter.))

(OOC: It takes a long post to sum up three long posts. Who would've thought.))

“Hmmm….yeah.” Biff started to talk, still staring at the drawing. “These caves have stuff like that all the time. Their pretty hard to take down unless you got the right tools, or magic.” He then looked at the three with a weird looking smile that unnerved Natalia. “They usually lead to more passages and whatnot, and they make great hiding spots from the beast. Me and my friends found one once. Can’t really remember what was in it though.“ He then stopped and walked towards the wall Natalia was inspecting. “Move aside, toots.” He said as he shoved Natalia to the side to closer inspect the wall.

“Touch me again and I’ll cut off your arms.” Natalia whispered threateningly, so only Biff could hear her. The look in his eyes told Natalia she was heard, but she wasn’t sure how serious he had taken the threat.

Biff didn’t comment on the threat and pretended everything was normal. “Hmmm…this wall does seem to be breakable….” For some reason he punched it a couple of times with his free hand. “Do you guys know any magic that could break this wall down? It doesn’t seem very strong.” Biff expectantly looked at the three.

“Biff move aside.” Artus ordered as he stepped forward towards the wall. Biff didn’t obey quickly enough so Artus pushed him away. Biff’s groans and shouts that followed made Natalia smile a bit. Artus checked the wall. “It’s kind of damp...” He released electricity from his hand, making the wall glow. As he increased the power, the sparks started to jump all around the wall giving off the signature electric sound.

“Wow! Look at him go! No wonder he’s the team leader, huh?” Biff shouted, while swinging his torch around in excitement. Natalia rolled her eyes. Enough with the fangirling already. He isn’t even a real leader. Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard as a narrow passage was opened in the wall. Smoke started to fill the room, along with steam and debris. Natalia covered her face by pulling her tunic over it, but she was a bit too late, smoke filled her lungs and caused a coughing attack.

“Whoo! Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” Biff jumped up and down, as the cloth covering his crotch waved around as well. Natalia turned away, but the horrifying image had already been burnt into her mind.

“Biff, stop doing that…” Artus said calmly and Biff did as told. Biff’s curiosity then sent him through the newly created hole and they followed him after Artus had checked with Biff about the state of the other side.

The unsealed tunnel was much darker than the others and the only source of light was the torch in Biff’s unreliable hands. Natalia wasn’t sure about blindly following Biff once again, but at least that way she could always keep an eye out for possible crazy actions. Artus got into a conversation with him, which should keep him occupied, but Biff is extremely unpredictable. And all that shouting… Natalia walked at the rear of the group, listening for anything that might be following them and didn’t pay much attention to the others. Because of that she nearly walked into Asher when thy stopped in front of something which could be one of the exits.

“Is this....the exit?!” Artus asked what everyone was thinking.

Biff nodded and said, “I think so. I have seen one of them before, and this one looks more or less the same. But it’s no use, ‘cus we don’t got the password.” Artus tried to push it open, but didn’t accomplish anything. “Even if you did have the password, you think it would be that easy to get out? It’s probably booby trapped to explode or sumptin’ when opened through the cave.” Biff continued.

“How can that be? YOU were the one that said the wardens themselves use it when they come down here. Does that mean they would die?” Artus asked, making fun of their “guide”.

“Bro, this is magic we’re talking about. Anything’s possible.” Biff leaned against the rocky surface with the torch not far from setting fire to his hair.

“Well, if we do have any ideas…then you’ll be the one who opens it, you got that?” Artus’ tone went dead serious. Natalia liked the idea of Biff being blown to pieces or impaled or meeting a similarly violent end, but didn’t expect Artus to behave like that. “You guys have any ideas? Any suggestions at all?” He then looked at Asher. “You seem like the guy who would be good at this problem solving sh*t.” Artus sounded impatient, which wasn’t much like him either. Natalia was a bit offended when he specifically asked for Asher’s input, even though it was her idea that got them through the last “dead end”.

Asher closely examined the door and the surrounding carvings and even leaned against it for some reason. Everyone was anxiously waiting for his observations. “The carvings on the door are either difficult to alter, or unable to be altered; any carvings of birds are to be avoided (the password has changed).” said his metal plate for a few moments before he added something else. “The carvings on the door are either difficult to alter, or unable to be altered; any carvings of birds are to be avoided (the password has changed).”

So it’s not about rearranging the carvings, perhaps we have to somehow activate them in a specific order.

“Thanks Asher. At least now we kind of know what to look for…” Artus walked up to the gate and observed the carvings. “Biff, you have any ideas as to what the password might be? A possible character or something like Asher said?” He said in a more serious tone.

“…Uhhh…no, actually I don’t.” Biff answered after a few moments of hesitation. He spoke somewhat quietly and more serious as well. What a surprise. “Hey, can I ask you guys something?” Biff asked causing Natalia to sigh. “What do we do once we get out, assuming if we get out?”

“We go after the Commander obviously. What does this have to with anything? We’re not even out yet and you’re already talking about what to do once you’re free?” Artus snapped at Biff, which was really unlike him. “Biff, just shut up.” He continued in his normal tone. “You can do whatever you want once you get out. Happy?”

Biff looked at Artus as if he were about to cry. “So…you’re gonna go after Ghan and then what? Everything’s all good? I know what you’re trying to do now, it’s obvious. You just want to teach him a lesson ‘cus you think it’ll make yourself feel good that you killed the guy who was in charge of destroying our village. Well, you’re wrong! Ghan wasn’t in charge, it’s ultimately Diaz’s choice!” Biff was tearing up a bit for some reason. Natalia had no idea what he was talking about, but this didn’t sound like one of his usual rambles. “Besides, he has three more Commanders…killing this one won’t do anything.”

Artus seemed annoyed by Biff’s speech so his reply focused on getting Biff to stop. “Then we get all of them. And then we go after Diaz. Biff, shut up now, so I can think.” He stared at the carvings for a while. “Biff, that drawing of the bird you saw…was its wings opened, or folded?”

“Hmmm…not sure, the drawing was old and parts of it were degraded. All I know is that bird drawing is not the only one I have seen since my stay here. I have seen many bird doodles, some different, and some same.” Once again, Biff was of no help. “…But I think I have a guess as to what the password may be.” Natalia was too surprised to express her doubts.

“Well, what’re you waiting for? Go and draw it!” Artus grabbed Biff and violently threw him at the gate. “Anything is better than nothing. Besides, if it is ‘booby-trapped’ like you said it is, then at least we’ll have nothing to worry about.” Biff picked up a rock to carve something into the gate, but hesitated after hearing Artus’ last comment. Natalia felt pretty much the same way as Artus, but she didn’t expect him to be so open about it.

“…what do you mean ‘nothing’ to worry about? What if it's wrong?” Biff asked in a tone so soft it almost made Natalia feel pity for him.

“I mean, it’s better YOU than us. You get it Biff? It’s gonna be either you or us. Like you said before, we’re dead anyways, so why do you care?” Artus sounded aggressive. Biff’s eyes became teary again as he started to draw something into little spaces using the sharp edge of the rock. After a little while, he stepped back. Artus shoved Biff to the side. He walked up to the gate to observe what he drew. In the space between the other carvings, he had drawn what seemed to the outline of an owl. “This is it? This is the password? It’s just an owl or something. You wanna tell me how you came up with this?” He asked him, but then showed no interest in Biff’s explanation.

When Biff realised that he snapped. “Hey! I’m trying to tell you how I got it! It could help you later on you know? I think you should listen to what I have to say!” Biff frantically yelled at Artus who was still not listening. He backed off, and looked at Natalia and Asher. “Hey, you guys aren’t going to leave me right? I mean, I’m pretty important to the team, right?” He started to get on his knees in front of them, grabbing both of their hands and pleading. Natalia freed her hand and pierced him with her eyes. She put a right hand on her sword, reminding him of her threat.

“Biff, knock it off! We can talk about this after we get out.” Artus snapped at him once again, as he quickly got back on his feet. “Assuming you were able to carve this into the stone, and nothing happened, that means there was no trap like you said, right? Unless you got it correct, and the trap was dispelled.” Biff looked around again cautiously, and hesitated before speaking.

“….I guess so…” Biff said. Artus pressed his hand against the gate and the door suddenly lit up. The carvings got a bright blue glow, illuminating the cave. The carvings of the creatures were glowing, and everything was clearly seen. Biff’s drawing was lighting up as well, but suddenly vanished as a loud rumble came from the door and echoed through the cave. “I think I spoke too soon.” Biff turned around to look at the corridor behind him. Suddenly, a low growl followed by a blast of air rushed through the tunnel, bringing in dust and other debris. The wind blew out the torch in Biff’s hand, leaving them in darkness as the lights on the gate dimmed out. As a rotten stench was carried through the air Natalia began to panic.

This has the beast Biff was talking about and we’re virtually blind. How can we defend ourselves in situation like this. Luckily, a circular hole opened up under the now dark carvings, big enough for a person to walk through, similar to a door. “C’mon let’s go!” Artus yelled as he ran for the opening. “Hey! Let go!” He suddenly shouted. “Biff, you a*shole! What are you doing?!” Natalia had no idea what was going on in the darkness and had no intention of finding out.

“Owww! No, please! Take me with you!” Biff’s shouts could be heard over the growling. Natalia pressed her back against the wall in an attempt not to catch the beast’s attention and slowly moved along it towards the opening. “It’s got me! Don’t let go!” Biff started to yell, but the words were soon replaced with screams of terror and pain, before being silenced. Natalia made it through the opening without any close encounters with Biff’s killer. She was relieved when the passage closed again behind them, separating them from the predator.

Natalia didn’t really know how to feel. She was glad they made it out alive and well, and very quickly on top of that, but a few things bothered her. What happened to the others, for example. Would they be alright on their own? There was also the matter of Biff’s death. She didn’t exactly mourn him, but while he had been obnoxious and Natalia had been tempted to hurt him on a couple of occasions, seeing him die like that was unpleasant.

She took a good look at their surroundings. They had seemed to be in some sort of storage room. It was full various junk such as brooms, cabinets and shelves filled with boxes and crates. On the ceiling was a small orb, lighting up the room. Compared to the darkness of the tunnel the room was bright as daylight. Artus turned to Natalia and Asher. “We should be more careful from now on. No more arguing.” He said, giving Natalia an accusatory look as if he was trying to imply she was responsible for all the arguing in the group. What an attitude. Without me, he would still be in that room, staring in the drawing of the bird.

“Sure, from now on we’ll be best friends forever!” Natalia said with the voice of a little girl. “Now, can we continue with our escape?” she continued impatiently. Artus walked up to the storage door, trying to vigorously shake it, but accomplished nothing as it was locked. He looked hopefully at Asher and Natalia.

Natalia joined him at the door. “Step aside.” She examined the door and its lock. Neither of them seemed particularly strong, but unlike in the dungeon destroying the door would surely catch the attention of guards. She did however have some experience with picking locks; back at home a locked door would often find itself between her and something she desired, but wasn’t allowed, so she had no option but to learn the basics of lockpicking. Natalia searched the crates and boxes for a few thin pieces of metal she could use as improvised lockpicks.

After finding about a dozen of them, she knelt on one knee in front of the door and started inserting the metal pieces into the lock in various combinations and positions and trying to turn the lock. After a few minutes she managed to find the right ones and the lock opened with a metallic click. Natalia was very pleased with herself for unlocking the door. She slowly opened the door just enough to look out. After seeing nobody on the right, she stuck out her head through the opening to check the rest of the corridor on the other side of the door. Satisfied with what she had seen, she pulled her head back in and got up. “The coast is clear, we can get out of here.” She paused a bit. “But, perhaps it would be best if we come up with a plan before we start blindly wandering around.” That last part was for you, Artus. Happy?

“That wasn’t a wise move. Next person we meet, please avoid killing them. Better yet, why don’t you convert her into one of those creepy dead things you manage to make so well?” Fabian suddenly said after Keres had finished off the annoying screaming woman. He turned around to face fabian with a glimpse of annoyance in his red eyes. "Oh.. so it can talk after all." he said sarcasticly, annoyed that Fabian had kept quiet all this time. He was hoping to forme some sort of bond of trust with him, and he could already tell that it wouldn't work out. Natalia wuold laugh at me so hard if she saw this.. he thought. If she's still alive. He released a low laugh, even though he hoped she was still alive. Nobody got to end her existence but him.

"So!" Keres said to Fabian, atfer noticing he had spaced out just a bit longer than he supposed to. "Let's move on, shall we?". Keres then thought about what Fabian had said about the woman. she was of no importance alive, but perhaps she could help them now? "I know" He said with an evil grin, levitating his orb in front of him. It pulsed with a dark energy, which told Keres it was time to make some magic. He closed his eyes and started chanting the casual Omega Therion-spell, and he could hear low grunting emiting from the woman, as blood flowed through the scar on her throat, just like with the first one. She then managed to stand up, still being held in chains. "Come" Keres said, partly to her and Fabian. The revenant pulled its arms hard, and the chains broke.

They walked in silence, the only sounds being the revenants groans. they left a trail of blood from her scar at first, but atfer a while, she bled out. That was probably for the best, as God knows what might have been following the trail they left, and the last thing they need now, is something to attack them, even though Keres was certain they could defend themselves pretty good. After a while, they started to hear melodies, which turned into a song when they came closer. the sound was far away, but it wasn't much else to listen to down there, so it could just as well be right in front of them.

“Boney was a warrior,
Away ay-yah!
A warrior and a tarrier,
John Fran swor!”

What the... is that some kind of pirate shanting? Keres thought as they moved in closer. Atfer a few more verses, the song faded out, and they could hear loud talking instead. Between three people, it seemed. "Go." Keres said, and the revenant left them behind, walking towards the sound. If there was anything dangerous, the revenant would alert them of it, and they could brace themselves for battle if necessary.

“Captain Ethan Daggett!” somebody said, and Keres immediatly recognized the name. It appears Ethan is just up ahead, talking to someone, probably an inmate. Not very suprising. It appears everyone knows at least one person in here. Keres thought, and went back into thinking of the familiar magical feeling the prison emitted. It sounded like Ethan was talking to someone, and that someone started rising his voice, making keres able to recognize the voice. It seemed to be Colenar. Keres came to a small clearing in the maze, and could see in the dark distance, Ethan, Colenar and some beat-up looking guy, probably the one singing earlier. He vanquished his orb and kept in the shadows, observing the conversation. it seemed to be heating up, as Ethan knew this guy, though tried to deny it in front of Colenar. What? Is it his boyfriend or something? Keres giggled by the image of Colenar being jealous.

But no. It appeared to be a bit more complicated than that, which seems suprising, as not much is more complicated than love, as Keres had heard from somewhere. The inmate talked about Ethan as if he was a god, and appaerntly he was, a god from the seven seas. So, he's a pirate after all, huh? " Who knew your full name? Don't lie to me, Ethan. Haven't you done that enough? Pirate?" Colenar said with a rising tone of agression. "So, when were you planning to tell us about this, Captain? Or were you just going to wait, and hope the subject never came up. I thought we were at least important enough for you to be honest with. And don't say you never actually lied. You witheld the truth, and in my mind, there's little difference. Explain yourself." Colenar was really angry now, and Keres couldn't help but releasing a smile. Who knew that little pest had the ability of anger?

“Is it really that important?” Ethan replied. “It’s not exactly something many people would consider a ‘noble’ profession. For all I knew when you found out I would have been left on my own. What about the others like Asher and Natalia. You think they would take it well?”. Keres laughed again. If Nat. and the others hadn't figured it out yet, they were really dumber than I anticipated. Keres thought, knowing he probably had overestimated Nat. “Look. What does it matter what I do for a living? I can fight, I can walk.” Ethan explained “Alright, fine. I’m sorry.” He said “I should have told you.”. Now they really did sound like a couple. Ew..

Keres stayed behnid in the shadows, lurking around a bit more before he decided to let them know of his and Fabians prescence. He sent the revenant walking out first, catching Ethan and Colenars attention. they seemed very suprised. He then proceeded to emerge himself. "Well, aren't you guys cute together" he laughed mysteriously as he walked towards them

Coelnar studied Ethan's face as he attempted to explain himself. Ethan's reasoning seemed sound, at least when it came to Natalia and Asher and the like. What didn't impress him, though, was that he didn't take long to change the subject. Though Coelnar could sympathize with him to a certain extent, he just wished he'd been straight from the start. Still, he supposed it didn't matter, though his trust in Ethan had certainly been broken, at least slightly, he still knew that he could trust him in a way. Ethan would try to help the others when he had to. The breach of trust, really, was on a more persoal level. The fact that he'd been lied to, certainly meant it would take a while to trust him, and properly forgive him. He shook his head. The old man had certainly overheard the conversation, but didn't comment.

Coelnar looked at Ethan. "I suppose I can forgive you. Forgive you, mind, not trust you. But I suppose I overreacted, though I'm not apologizing." he said calmly. "Actually, if I'm going to forgive you, there's one thing. If and when we get out of here, I'm giving you three days to tell the others about your past. After the deadline.." he continued, his voice growing colder, "On the morning of the fourth day, if you haven't been straight with them, I'll tell them myself, you understand?" he said, his face expressionless.

He turned to the old man. He was angry, but he kept it hidden. It was partly from the lying, but mostly from seeing that soldier. That smug expression on his face.. He'd recognized Coelnar, or at least partly. And he'd just been so, so pleased with himself. Probably got a promotion from the mountains, too. There had to be a reason he was at Galvez, after all. He kept his voice steady. "The way you came from." he said, nodding to the old man. "Was there any indication of an exit, anything at all? After all, we need to find our way out of here." he said. "So, did you see anything unusual, anything at all? Lights, doorways, people? Hear anything, even?"

After their discussion was over, a corpse appeared to walk past. Coelnar paid little attention to it, though it unnerved him slightly. It was probably a trick of the light, or some such. It wasn't long after, only a couple minutes, before Keres and Fabian appeared out of the darkness. "Well, aren't you guys cute together." he said, with a slightly strange laugh. Coelnar turned to face him, unsure how much of their conversation he and Fabian had overheard. "Keres." Coelnar said calmly. "Funny as ever, then. I suppose you have little more idea where you're going than we do?" Coelnar looked at the pair.

“Sure, from now on we’ll be best friends forever!” Natalia said sarcastically, and imitated the voice of a little girl. “Now, can we continue our escape?” She said impatiently. Artus sighed and ignored her comment as he tried to shake open the door. It was locked. Artus inspected the lock carefully, to make sure there was no trap of the sorts. They could have easily broken down the door, but they didn’t want to attract any of the wardens. Artus was sure everyone knew using magic to open it would be out of the question. Suddenly, Natalia walked up beside Artus. “Step aside.” Artus watched as she observed the door and lock. She then turned around and started to search the room. What is she doing…? She returned to the door with several pieces of thin metal. After inserting them and picking the handle with it, she managed to pop open the lock. She slowly opened the door and looked out. “The coast is clear, we can get out of here.” Artus smiled, and nodded out being impressed by her lock picking skills. Artus was about to walk out the door, until she started to speak again. “But, perhaps it would be best if we come up with a plan before we start blindly wandering around.” Artus stopped in his tracks. He knew she was right. Artus had been leading them into various encounters since they started this trip, so it would be wise to think something up before wandering around. But then again, they had no knowledge of this place and its layout.

“Well, seeing as we barely know anything about this place, I think it’s safe to say the only thing we can do is play safe for now.” Artus walked up the door and nudged Natalia to the side, away from the door. He opened it slightly and took a quick look. They could either go to the right, or to the left. He suddenly overheard voices, and saw 2 figures walk past on the left corridor. They seemed to have been having a regular conversation.

“…Yeah, did you hear? A bunch of Immigrants from the north tried to cross over to Salos. Apparently they got some sort of population crisis on their hands or something.” One of the wardens said as they were walking past the storage room. Artus quickly closed the door, and waited for a few seconds. By the way they spoke, you wouldn’t think that they were a bunch of ruthless prison wardens. They seemed capable of holding intelligent conversations, such as current events. Artus gestured Natalia and Asher to stay quiet, while he opened the door again. As he looked out, he saw that the wardens were gone.

“Alright, let’s get out of here before anyone else shows up.” Artus said, as he quickly, but quietly swung the door open, and then looked both ways. “Seeing as how those guys went to the right, we should go left.” Artus tried to act smart, by showing off his mediocre observation skills. As they walked down the brightly lit corridor, Artus was surprised that it wasn’t more ‘gloomy’. There were torches hung on the side, which gave the walls a bright reddish-orange glow. As they continued to walk, they came across a large room, with a large pit right in the middle. The sound of rushing water echoed throughout the room. Artus walked closer to the pit, which was encircled with ropes, to prevent any accidental falling. As he looked down, he saw a vicious torrent of water, indicating that this room was right on top of the river. “Damn it, how are we supposed to find anyone in a place like this? Hopefully the others are having better than luck than us.” Artus was hoping that the others had gotten out as they did, hopefully not suffering the same fate as Biff. Artus looked around the room, and there were three ways they could take. A small entrance to the right, left, and straight-ahead. The only way to get to them was to go around the pit, which wouldn’t take long by no means, but was tedious. “Which way should we take?” He said, asking Natalia and Asher. Suddenly, from the corner of his eyes, Artus saw figures come out of the left entrance. Artus stepped back, and drew his sword, readying himself for a fight. There were two wardens, wearing the regular uniforms, however one of them held a leash in his hand, attached to a red and black colored wolf. Suddenly, the wardens spotted them.

“W-Who are they?” One of the wardens yelled, nervously. The warden with the wolf shrugged, and they looked ready to run away. “Wait, what are we supposed to do? Fight? Run?” The warden went into a frenzy, as he fired off his questions. These guys are idiots… Artus was caught off guard by the warden’s behavior, however he still readied himself. “Ghan said we capture all loose prisoners, and put them back in cells, or kill them if they don’t behave. What do we do?”

“Then we get them.” The warden with the wolf suddenly let go of the leash. “Sick ‘em boy.” The wolf sprinted, foaming at the mouth and jumped into the air at the group, with its mouth wide open. Artus quickly jumped in front, and the wolf bit into Artus' forearm gauntlet. The wolf started to shake its head vigorously, knocking Artus to the ground. “Crap!” Artus punched the wolf in the head a few times, as it loosened its grip and backed off. It started to growl, and looked at him with bloodthirsty eyes. Luckily its fangs didn’t penetrate deep enough into the steel gauntlets to pierce his skin, but his hand was pain from the force of the bite along with the shaking. Then, the wardens started to run at the group, one of them with a sword, and the other with a spear.

Ethan Daggett: Post 21

Ethan Daggett
Galvez Maze

"I suppose I can forgive you. Forgive you, mind, not trust you. But I suppose I overreacted, though I'm not apologizing." Coelnar replied. He had calmed down "Actually, if I'm going to forgive you, there's one thing. If and when we get out of here, I'm giving you three days to tell the others about your past. After the deadline."

Ethan thought for a moment at that last statement. Obviously he didn’t like it, but he could live with it.
“Alright, Coelnar” Ethan replied “Sounds good to me. Now let’s figure out how to get out assess out of here.”

Just as he finished his sentence Ethan saw a figure emerge from around the corner. It was Keres and Fabian.
"Well, aren't you guys cute together" Keres said as he approached the trio.
“You could just say hi.” Ethan sighed. “Anyway, do you have any idea how to get out of this place?” Ethan asked. Before Keres could reply Jasper piped up again, Ethan had almost forgotten about him.
“I know Captain! I know!” He shouted excitedly as he jumped up and down in the air. Ethan turned to him and placed his hands firmly on Jasper’s shoulders to stop the jumping.
“Well… I sort of know…” Jasper continued. Ethan was sceptical. The man was clearly deranged by now.
“There’s a great and terrible beast you see! Or don’t see… I’ve never seen him before. He’s here to keep us prisoners in check he is. Oh, and there are also some prisoners who might try to fight you, and Diaz’s guards, and there’s hardly any fo-“
“Jasper!” Ethan interrupted Jasper’s rambling. “How the hell do we get out?” He asked, sounding out each word individually.”
“Oh! That’s easy. You gotta find the doors and open it with magic. I know of course that the mighty Ethan Daggett can preform magic” He continued, Ethan didn’t like a kiss-***. “I dunno if either of your new swabbies can, though.” Jasper said, mistaking Coelnar and Keres for Ethan’s crew mates.